Fidji Simo, OpenAI’s CEO of AGI Deployment, shared Thursday that she was stepping down from her role amid a battle with a chronic illness.
The businesswoman issued the update in a lengthy statement posted on X, where she confirmed that she would be transitioning to a part-time advisor position.
“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,” she wrote. “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, who previously served as the Head of the Facebook App, continued. “When I went on leave, many people told me I was courageous for prioritizing my health. The truth is that I am only making this decision now because I failed to make it many times before. Over the years, doctors, friends, colleagues and loved ones encouraged me to slow down. 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.”
As Simo went on, she recalled Mark Zuckerberg encouraging her to “play the long game,” adding, “I wish I had listened.”
“Looking back, I realize that a lot of what made me successful also made this decision incredibly difficult,”she said. “I grew up believing that opportunities were precious and that when they appeared, you grabbed them with both hands. That mindset carried me from a small town in southern France to opportunities I never could have imagined. 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.”
Per Simo, her position at OpenAI “felt like a role that my entire career had been building toward, which made this decision even harder.”
“But what I’m learning now is that grit and endurance are not the only skills required to have impact over decades,” she reflected. “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. This experience has also strengthened my conviction about why this work matters. 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.”
However, Simo did not clarify what exactly she has been battling, instead noting that she’s spent the last several years “dealing with symptoms, treatments, insurance, uncertainty and all the invisible work that comes with being a patient.”
“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,” she noted. “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.”
She voiced her hope that artificial intelligence technology could lead to a cure, vowing to continue working with OpenAI to achieve this dream.
Before signing off her note, Simo expressed gratitude to OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, President Greg Brockman and the company’s board “for their support during this time and for offering a way for me to continue contributing to the mission without sacrificing my chances of recovery.”
“I’m also so thankful to my team and the many extraordinary colleagues I’ve had the privilege to build alongside,” she concluded. “For now, my focus is recovery. But my belief in the potential of technology to solve deeply human problems has never been stronger.”
Read Simo’s full statement here.
