July 9 (Reuters) - OpenAI's CEO of AGI deployment Fidji Simo said on Thursday she will step down from her full-time role and pivot to a part-time advisory position at the ChatGPT maker, following an extended medical leave for a neuroimmune condition.
"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 time, it became clear that the road to recovery would be much longer and more complex than I had anticipated
- and that I needed to focus on it fully," Simo said in a post on X.
Simo, previously chief executive of Instacart and the head of the Facebook app at Meta, was among the three directors that joined OpenAI's board in March 2024 after Sam Altman returned as CEO.
"I am really sad about this and very grateful for all Fidji has done for OpenAI, and even grateful for her friendship and who she is as a person," Altman said in an X post.
Simo's exit from the senior role also comes as OpenAI gears up to go public amid insatiable demand for the technology.
In the run-up to the IPO, OpenAI executives have been focusing on research areas including robotics and building artificial general intelligence as the company looked to roll more of its capabilities into a single super-app. To reflect that shift, Simo's title was changed from CEO of applications to CEO of AGI deployment.
OpenAI unveiled the long-awaited super-app on Thursday, showcasing a new AI agent meant to help white-collar workers access the power of coding tools without the sticker shock.
Bloomberg News reported, citing an internal memo, that Simo's product and business responsibilities will be split between OpenAI President Greg Brockman, Chief Financial Officer Sarah Friar and Chief Strategy Officer Jason Kwon.
Reuters could not immediately verify the report. OpenAI did not immediately respond to Reuters request for comment.
In a LinkedIn post last year, Simo said she had been diagnosed with postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome (POTS), a disorder of the autonomic nervous system, and had launched efforts to improve research and care for such conditions.
POTS is a rare condition with no known cure in which the heart shrinks and can no longer maintain normal blood pressure. Patients with POTS are prone to lightheadedness, fainting and experience uncomfortable, rapid increases in their heart rate.
"For now, my focus is recovery. But my belief in the potential of technology to solve deeply human problems has never been stronger," Simo said on Thursday.
(Reporting by Fabiola Arámburo in Mexico City; Editing by Tasim Zahid and Sherry Jacob-Phillips)
