OpenAI poaches Instacart CEO Fidji Simo to lead apps
OpenAI is growing fast. It’s building a $500 billion “Stargate” AI data center campus, and ChatGPT is breaking traffic records, even though it is too sycophantic.
It sounds like CEO Sam Altman is spread a little thin. He’s overseeing AI research, new infrastructure tools, and some very popular consumer apps.
To help shore up the app part of the business, OpenAI is poaching Instacart’s CEO, Fidji Simo, to be its “CEO of Applications.” Simo, who spent years as a high-profile exec at Facebook before moving to Instacart, has been an OpenAI board member for more than a year.
In a note to employees, Altman wrote:
“To strengthen our execution, I’m excited to announce Fidji Simo is joining as our CEO of Applications, reporting directly to me. I remain the CEO of OpenAI and will continue to directly oversee success across all pillars of OpenAI — Research, Compute, and Applications — ensuring we stay aligned and integrated across all areas. I will work closely with our board on making sure our non-profit has maximum positive impact.”
Simo will be transitioning to the new role over the next few months. She wrote:
“Joining OpenAI at this critical moment is an incredible privilege and responsibility. This organization has the potential of accelerating human potential at a pace never seen before and I am deeply committed to shaping these applications toward the public good.”
Instacart shares were down about 3% in early trading.
To help shore up the app part of the business, OpenAI is poaching Instacart’s CEO, Fidji Simo, to be its “CEO of Applications.” Simo, who spent years as a high-profile exec at Facebook before moving to Instacart, has been an OpenAI board member for more than a year.
In a note to employees, Altman wrote:
“To strengthen our execution, I’m excited to announce Fidji Simo is joining as our CEO of Applications, reporting directly to me. I remain the CEO of OpenAI and will continue to directly oversee success across all pillars of OpenAI — Research, Compute, and Applications — ensuring we stay aligned and integrated across all areas. I will work closely with our board on making sure our non-profit has maximum positive impact.”
Simo will be transitioning to the new role over the next few months. She wrote:
“Joining OpenAI at this critical moment is an incredible privilege and responsibility. This organization has the potential of accelerating human potential at a pace never seen before and I am deeply committed to shaping these applications toward the public good.”
Instacart shares were down about 3% in early trading.
