Fidji Simo, who leads OpenAI’s applications business, is leaving her full-time position for a part-time advisory role, The Wall Street Journal reported. The move follows an extended medical leave and comes as OpenAI pushes into enterprise software while fighting lawsuits from news publishers. Simo’s condition, a neuroimmune disorder, has grown worse, and doctors now expect a longer recovery than first predicted, according to the Journal.
OpenAI is splitting Simo’s product and business duties three ways. Her responsibilities fall to Greg Brockman, the company’s president; Sarah Friar, its chief financial officer; and Jason Kwon, its chief strategy officer, the Journal reported. No single successor was named. That structure spreads authority across an already crowded leadership bench rather than concentrating it in one deputy.
OpenAI has not detailed what authority Simo keeps as a part-time adviser, including whether she retains a formal title or a role in product decisions. That omission matters. An adviser with undefined scope sends a different signal to the market than an executive on a defined exit timeline.
Simo came to OpenAI in 2025 to lead the applications group, the unit that turns the company’s underlying models into consumer and business products. That mandate made her one of the few OpenAI executives with direct responsibility for shipping revenue-generating software rather than research. OpenAI has absorbed senior exits before without hiring an outside replacement, including Chief Technology Officer Mira Murati’s departure in 2024.
Her exit from daily management lands at a sensitive point for that business. OpenAI has been pushing ChatGPT Work, its enterprise product line, as it tries to convert consumer users into paying business accounts. The company is also defending itself in litigation brought by news organizations, a fight centered on the same applications layer Simo built. Enterprise revenue is central to OpenAI’s valuation story as the company raises additional funding, which makes continuity in the applications organization a closely watched metric for investors.
OpenAI has not said how long the three-way leadership split will last, or whether Brockman, Friar, and Kwon will keep the applications duties permanently. That distinction matters. A temporary arrangement suggests a search for a single successor is underway. A permanent one suggests OpenAI plans to fold applications directly into its existing executive portfolios rather than replace Simo at all.
The company has not disclosed further detail on Simo’s condition beyond describing it as neuroimmune, and the Journal did not report a timeline for her return. OpenAI said she intends to stay engaged as a part-time adviser rather than leave the company outright.
For enterprise buyers evaluating ChatGPT Work contracts, the leadership gap is worth tracking over the next two quarters. Watch whether Brockman, Friar, and Kwon ship a coherent enterprise roadmap together or whether OpenAI names a permanent applications chief, since either outcome signals how the company intends to run its highest-stakes commercial division without the executive who built it in the seat full time.
The Wall Street Journal first reported Simo’s transition on July 9, 2026.
