Today, I shared with the OpenAI team that I have decided to leave my full-time role at OpenAI and transition to being a part-time advisor.
Three months ago, I had to go on medical leave after a severe exacerbation of a chronic illness I’ve lived with for seven years. During that…
— Fidji Simo (@fidjissimo) July 9, 2026
Fidji Simo, one of OpenAI’s top executives and the company’s CEO of AGI deployment, is stepping down from her full‑time role and will become a part‑time advisor after an extended medical leave. Simo announced the move in a post on X, saying a “severe exacerbation” of a chronic neuroimmune illness she has lived with for seven years made clear that the road to recovery would be “much longer and more complex” than anticipated and that she needed to focus on it fully.
Simo, who previously served as Instacart’s CEO and joined OpenAI’s board in 2024 before taking on the AGI deployment role in August 2025, had become Sam Altman’s de facto second‑in‑command, overseeing how OpenAI’s models are turned into products and deployed in the real world. She went on medical leave in April after her condition worsened, and OpenAI President Greg Brockman assumed responsibility for product during her absence. CNBC reports that Simo was diagnosed with Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome (POTS) in 2019 and described spending “countless hours in doctors’ offices” dealing with symptoms, treatments, insurance and the “invisible work” that comes with being a patient.
In her announcement, Simo emphasized that she is not cutting ties with OpenAI entirely. She will continue to contribute as a part‑time advisor, while devoting more attention to her health and to parallel efforts that apply AI to treating complex diseases, including work at biotech startup ChronicleBio and with the Complex Disorders Alliance. She reiterated her belief that one of the best uses of AI is to help cure disease and thanked Altman, Brockman and OpenAI’s board for their support throughout her leave.
Simo’s shift comes as OpenAI prepares for a potential IPO and continues to centralize power under Brockman and Altman. Bloomberg and Reuters report that her product and business responsibilities are being split among Brockman, Chief Financial Officer Sarah Friar, and Chief Strategy Officer Jason Kwon, further consolidating operational control within the firm’s core leadership. The change raises questions about how OpenAI will balance aggressive commercial rollout of AGI‑adjacent products with the governance and safety concerns Simo had been tasked with managing in her deployment remit.
