Fidji Simo

Fidji Simo (born 1985) grew up in a fishing family in Sète, France, and rose through eBay and a decade at Facebook — where she ran the flagship Facebook app — before becoming CEO of Instacart in 2021 and taking it public in 2023. She joined OpenAI’s board in 2024, then in May 2025 was named its first “CEO of Applications,” a newly created number-two role reporting to Sam Altman and responsible for turning OpenAI’s research into products.

The empowerment thesis

Before starting the job in August 2025, Simo published an essay, “AI as the greatest source of empowerment for all,” that became one of the most-cited optimist manifestos of the period. Technology shifts, she wrote, can expand access to power or “further concentrate wealth and power in the hands of a few — usually people who already have money, credentials, and connections”; she framed her mission at OpenAI as making sure this one does the former, across knowledge, health, creativity and economic opportunity.

Her tenure was cut short by illness. Diagnosed in 2019 with postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome (POTS), she went on medical leave in April 2026 after a severe relapse, and on July 9, 2026 announced she was stepping back to a part-time advisory role, writing that the leave had proven longer and harder than expected. Altman said he was “really sad” and grateful for what she had built.

In under a year Simo oversaw the consumer-facing side of ChatGPT during its fastest growth phase and pushed OpenAI toward applications in health and everyday productivity — the concrete version of her empowerment argument.