Fidji Simo, OpenAI’s Chief of Product and Business, has announced that she is stepping down from her full-time role after her chronic illness became much worse. She said the past few months made her realise that recovering will take much longer than she had expected, and she now needs to put her health first.

In a post on X on Thursday, Simo said she will leave her full-time position and become a part-time advisor at OpenAI.

“Today, I shared with the OpenAI team that I have decided to leave my full-time role at OpenAI and transition to being a part-time advisor,” she wrote.

Simo had gone on medical leave in April after a “severe exacerbation” of a chronic illness she has been living with for the past seven years. During her leave, OpenAI President Greg Brockman took over responsibility for the company’s product team.

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Later, in a post on X, Altman said he was grateful for everything she had done for the company “and even grateful for her friendship and who she is as a person.”

OpenAI’s Fidji Simo steps down to focus on health 

Simo revealed that she was diagnosed with Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome (POTS) in 2019. POTS is a long-term condition that affects blood flow and can cause symptoms such as dizziness, rapid heartbeat and extreme tiredness.

She said living with the illness has meant spending years dealing with doctors, treatments and the challenges that come with being a patient.

“Over the last seven years, I’ve spent countless hours in doctors’ offices, dealing with symptoms, treatments, insurance, uncertainty, and all the invisible work that comes with being a patient.”

She added that even with every possible advantage, managing healthcare has been difficult. “Like millions of others living with chronic illness, I’ve experienced firsthand how difficult healthcare can be to navigate, even when you have every possible advantage.”

‘I should have listened’

Simo admitted that she had ignored advice from doctors, friends and family for years, even when they encouraged her to slow down. “When I went on leave, many people told me I was courageous for prioritising my health. The truth is that I am only making this decision now because I failed to make it many times before.”

She also looked back at her time at Meta, saying that two years after she became ill, the company offered her a full year of medical leave. “Two years after I got sick, Facebook offered me the opportunity to take a full year of medical leave. I didn’t even pause to consider it. I immediately said no.” 

Simo said Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg had advised her to think long term. “At the time, Zuck told me I should play the long game. I wish I had listened.”

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In a long post, Simo spoke about how her career shaped her attitude toward work. She said she grew up in a small town in southern France believing that opportunities should never be missed. 

“I grew up believing that opportunities were precious and that when they appeared, you grabbed them with both hands.” She said that mindset helped her build a career she had never imagined possible.

“By the time I turned 40, I had already gotten to do more than I’d ever dreamed possible as a kid growing up in Sète.”

She said she has always loved building products and that joining OpenAI felt like the role her entire career had prepared her for. But she said she has now learned an important lesson.

“What I’m learning now is that grit and endurance are not the only skills required to have impact over decades. Sometimes the harder thing is to stop, listen, and trust that taking care of yourself today makes it possible to contribute for much longer tomorrow.”

Joined OpenAI last year 

OpenAI hired Simo in May 2025 to lead its applications business. At the time, CEO Sam Altman said she would help expand the company’s traditional business functions as OpenAI entered its next phase of growth.

The announcement comes just weeks after OpenAI confidentially filed paperwork for an initial public offering (IPO), following a similar filing by rival Anthropic. 

Before joining OpenAI, Simo was CEO of Instacart, where she led the company’s stock market debut and helped end the longest drought in technology IPOs in three decades. Earlier, she spent more than 10 years at Meta and served as the head of Facebook from 2019 to 2021.

Believes AI can transform healthcare 

Simo said her illness has strengthened her belief that artificial intelligence should be used to solve real-life problems, especially in healthcare. “It has been a jarring experience to spend my days helping build the future while simultaneously navigating a disabling disease that still has no cure.”

She said AI has the potential to make people’s lives easier by helping with health, finances, time and everyday challenges.

“More than ever, I believe that some of the most important opportunities for AI lie in helping people solve real problems in their daily lives: their health, their finances, their time and the everyday burdens that shape human experience.”