‘This sucks’: Sam Altman reacts as Fidji Simo steps down from OpenAI to focus on health

‘i am really sad about this and very grateful for all fidji has done for openai, and even grateful for her friendship and who she is as a person. we all wish her the best for a speedy recovery. this sucks.’ That was OpenAI CEO Sam Altman’s response on X after Fidji Simo announced she is stepping down from her role leading the company’s applications business.

Simo said in a social media post that she is moving into a part-time advisory position at OpenAI to focus on recovering from postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome, or POTS, a chronic illness affecting the body’s autonomic nervous system that she has lived with for the past seven years. The condition can cause fatigue, dizziness, rapid heartbeat, headaches and fainting.

Simo described it as ‘jarring’ to spend her days helping build the future of AI while managing a disabling illness that currently has no cure, though she said she continues to believe technology has the potential to solve deeply human problems.

She revealed she became ill while working at Facebook, where she spent a decade in several leadership roles, and that doctors, friends, colleagues and loved ones encouraged her over the years to slow down. Two years after she got sick, Facebook offered her a full year of medical leave, which she turned down immediately.

She recalled that Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg told her at the time that she should ‘play the long game.’ ‘I wish I had listened,’ she wrote, adding that the same determination that helped her succeed also made it difficult for her to step away from work.