Fidji Simo steps down from OpenAI’s no. 2 role

Fidji Simo, the executive who has served as OpenAI's second-in-command, is departing her full-time position at the company, according to reporting from the Wall Street Journal. Her exit removes one of the AI lab's most senior operators at a moment when OpenAI is weighing a potential public listing and pushing hard to close the gap with rival Anthropic in selling to corporate customers.

According to a memo sent to staff on Thursday, Simo explained that the medical leave she had been on has stretched on longer and proven more difficult than she initially anticipated. Rather than returning to her previous duties, she will shift into a part-time role advising the company going forward.

Simo's history with OpenAI began well before she took on day-to-day management responsibilities. She joined the company's board of directors in 2024, then moved into an operating position in May 2025 when she was named CEO of Applications — a title created specifically for her. The position placed her in direct communication with chief executive Sam Altman and gave her oversight of both the commercial and product sides of the business.

Bringing Simo into that role triggered a broader realignment of OpenAI's management structure. Chief Operating Officer Brad Lightcap, Chief Financial Officer Sarah Friar, and Chief Product Officer Kevin Weil were all shifted to report to her rather than directly to Altman, who in turn pulled back from operational duties to concentrate on research priorities, computing infrastructure, and safety work.

That handoff had effectively made Simo the executive running much of OpenAI's business operations day to day, freeing Altman to focus on the technical and strategic bets that have defined the company's public identity. Her stepping back now leaves a gap in that structure just as the stakes tied to those responsibilities are rising.

The timing adds pressure beyond the usual disruption of a leadership change. OpenAI has been signaling interest in an eventual initial public offering, a process that typically demands stable, visible management to reassure prospective investors. At the same time, the company is locked in intense competition with Anthropic for enterprise customers, a market where consistent commercial leadership matters for closing deals and maintaining client relationships.

It remains unclear who, if anyone, will formally assume Simo's operational duties, or whether Lightcap, Friar, and Weil will resume reporting directly to Altman now that the arrangement she oversaw is being unwound. OpenAI has not detailed a permanent succession plan alongside the announcement of her reduced role.

Simo's continued involvement as a part-time adviser suggests OpenAI is aiming to retain her institutional knowledge and board-level input even as it loses her as a full-time operator. How much influence that advisory position carries in practice, and how quickly the company fills the resulting leadership void, will likely become clearer as OpenAI moves further into its IPO deliberations and continues competing for enterprise business against Anthropic.

Source: TechCrunch