|
OpenAI’s CEO of AGI Deployment, Fidji Simo, is taking “several weeks” of medical leave, according to an internal memo seen by The Information. Simo suffers from a chronic condition called postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome which has led her to primarily work from her home in southern California since joining OpenAI last August. In her absence, co-founder Greg Brockman will run the product organization while Chief Strategy Officer Jason Kwon, Chief Financial Officer Sarah Friar and Chief Revenue Officer Denise Dresser will run the business and operations
side of the company, Simo said. “As I shared when I joined, I had a relapse of my neuroimmune condition a few weeks before starting the job,” Simo wrote in the memo. “It’s been a bit of a rollercoaster since, and the last month has been particularly rough health-wise. For my entire time here, I’ve postponed medical tests and new therapies to stay completely focused on the job and not miss a single day of work. I took time off for the first time two weeks before the break for some medical tests, and it’s now clear that I’ve pushed a little too far and I really need to try new interventions to stabilize my health.” Simo also announced other executive changes. OpenAI Chief Operating Officer Brad Lightcap is leaving his current position to a “new role focused on special projects,” including OpenAI’s efforts to create a joint venture with private equity firms to sell its technology to their portfolio companies, Simo said. Lightcap will report to CEO Sam Altman. Dresser, who previously served as the CEO of Slack, will take over Lightcap’s old role, with the exception of OpenAI’s government and OpenAI for Countries work, which will be moved into OpenAI’s strategy organization, led by Kwon. Dresser, whose role will continue to be chief revenue officer, will report to Simo. Kate Rouch, OpenAI’s Chief Marketing Officer, will step down to “focus on her cancer recovery, and
plans to return to a different, more narrowly scoped role when her health allows,” Simo said. Gary Briggs, who has previously served as the chief marketing officer of Meta and has served as a marketing adviser to OpenAI during the last year, will lead the company’s marketing team until it are able to find a replacement. He will report to Kwon.
|