Fidji Simo, formerly Instacart's CEO, will assume the role of CEO of Applications at OpenAI, effective August 18. Simo will report directly to OpenAI CEO Sam Altman. Her responsibilities include steering the growth and accessibility of OpenAI's AI tools, such as ChatGPT and DALL·E.
Simo envisions AI playing a transformative role across various sectors, including healthcare, education and daily life, with a focus on ensuring equitable access. She aims to leverage AI to enhance opportunities and prosperity, particularly in knowledge acquisition, healthcare, creative expression, economic freedom, time management and support systems. Simo's appointment aligns with OpenAI's strategy to broaden its computing resources, incorporating Google Cloud services alongside existing partnerships with Microsoft, Oracle and CoreWeave.
OpenAI's decision to maintain its non-profit governance structure, transitioning its for-profit arm into a Public Benefit Corporation (PBC), coincides with Simo's appointment. This restructuring reinforces OpenAI's commitment to developing AI technologies that benefit humanity. Altman has expressed confidence in Simo's ability to scale OpenAI's applications, enabling him to focus on research, compute and AI safety as the company advances towards artificial general intelligence (AGI).
