OpenAI has appointed prominent tech executive Fidji Simo as its new chief executive officer of Applications.

The artificial intelligence provider announced the move in a late Wednesday blog post. Simo will be responsible for several aspects of OpenAI’s business that were previously overseen by CEO Sam Altman. Citing a source familiar with the matter, Bloomberg reported today that Simo’s areas of responsibility will include finance and product development.

“Fidji will focus on enabling our ‘traditional’ company functions to scale as we enter a next phase of growth,” Altman wrote in a memo to employees. “In addition to supporting Fidji and our Applications teams, I will increase my focus on Research, Compute, and Safety Systems, which will continue to report directly to me.”

Simo is currently CEO of Instacart, a publicly traded grocery delivery provider incorporated as Maplebear Inc. Before joining the company in 2021, she spent a decade at Meta Platforms Inc., most recently as the head of Facebook. She has also co-founded a health clinic and research foundation focused on curing neuroimmune disorders.

During her four years at Instacart, the food delivery significantly improved its profitability. Its adjusted EBITDA, or earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization, soared 243% in 2023 and grew an additional 38% last year, to $885 million. Improving profitability is likely a major priority for OpenAI, which reportedly lost $5 billion last year and only expects its cash flow to become positive in 2029.

In addition to improving Instacart’s finances during her tenure as CEO, Simo oversaw the launch of several new products. Last February, the company introduced AI-powered shopping carts called Caper Carts that retailers can use to provide cashierless checkout in their stores. More recently, Instacart rolled out a new delivery app called Fizz.

Simo’s extensive experience in launching products for the consumer market may indicate that this market will become a bigger focus of OpenAI’s development roadmap. Last month, reports emerged that the AI provider was considering launching a social network. The company has reportedly already built an internal prototype of the service.

Simo is not the only member of OpenAI’s leadership team who previously worked in the social media market. OpenAI Chief Product Officer Kevin Weil, who joined last June alongside Chief Financial Officer Sarah Friar, was earlier the vice president of product for Instagram. Bloomberg’s source said that Weil, Friar and OpenAI Chief Operating Officer Brad Lightcap will report to Simo going forward.

In a memo today to Instacart employees, Simo wrote that she will remain at the company for “a couple of months.” The food delivery provider expects to appoint one of its other executives CEO. 

Photo: Instacart