Instacart CEO Fidji Simo Joins OpenAI
Fidji Simo, the Chief Executive Officer of Instacart, is set to join OpenAI as CEO of Applications, the organisation behind ChatGPT announced on Thursday. Simo, who has served on OpenAI's board over the past year, will gradually transition from her role at Instacart and is expected to assume her new position full-time later in 2025.
OpenAI's current CEO, Sam Altman, will maintain overall leadership of the company, continuing to oversee core areas such as research, computing infrastructure, and application development. Simo will report directly to Altman in her new capacity.
Altman remarked in a company blog post that the Applications division combines existing operational and business units focused on delivering OpenAI's research benefits to the public. He praised Simo’s prior board contributions and underscored her suitability for leading this key division.
Simo will also be involved in expanding traditional business functions within OpenAI, although specific details were not disclosed. A Bloomberg report indicated that Chief Operating Officer Brad Lightcap, Chief Financial Officer Sarah Friar, and Chief Product Officer Kevin Weil will report to Simo.
Before leading Instacart, Simo built a distinguished career at Meta (formerly Facebook), where she played pivotal roles in launching ads in the News Feed, spearheading monetisation strategies, advancing Facebook Video, and helping build the tech giant's advertising infrastructure. She joined Instacart in 2021 and successfully steered the company to a public listing in 2023.
Although stepping down as CEO, Simo will remain chair of Instacart’s board. She confirmed via a post on X (formerly Twitter) that an internal executive will be appointed as her successor, with an official announcement forthcoming.
In a statement, Simo expressed deep enthusiasm for her new role: “Joining OpenAI at this critical moment is an incredible privilege and responsibility. This organisation has the potential to accelerate human potential at an unprecedented pace, and I am committed to ensuring its applications serve the public good.”
This strategic leadership shift highlights OpenAI’s ongoing commitment to scaling its offerings while responsibly steering AI integration into everyday life.
