OpenAI Appoints Instacart CEO Fidji Simo to Lead Applications as Altman Focuses on Research

OpenAI has appointed Fidji Simo, the current CEO of Instacart, as the new CEO of Applications. Simo, who has been a member of OpenAI's board since March 2024 and also serves on the board of Shopify, will report directly to Sam Altman, who will continue to serve as OpenAI's CEO but will shift his focus to research, compute, and safety as the company approaches superintelligence. Simo will oversee the company's business and operations teams, including sales, marketing, and finance. Her appointment aims to help OpenAI scale its consumer-facing AI applications, such as ChatGPT, as the company enters a new phase of growth. Simo is also the co-founder of the Metrodora Institute and an alumnus of HEC Paris and UCLA Anderson School of Management. Before joining OpenAI, Simo led Instacart since 2021 and previously spent a decade at Meta, where she served as the Head of the Facebook App. She will remain CEO of Instacart for the next few months during a transition period before becoming Chair of the board.