OpenAI\u2019s incoming CEO of applications, Fidji Simo, sent her first note to staff on Monday, telling employees the tools they\u2019re developing \u201cwill unlock more opportunities for more people than any other technology in history.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIf we get this right, AI can give everyone more power than ever,\u201d Simo wrote, striking a hyper-optimistic tone, according to a copy of the memo viewed by WIRED. \u201cBut I also realize those opportunities won\u2019t magically appear on their own.\u201d<\/p>\n
Simo currently works as the CEO of Instacart. Previously, she spent a decade at Meta, where she went from being a product manager on the company\u2019s news feed to the head of product for the Facebook app. For the past year, Simo has been a member of OpenAI\u2019s board of directors. In her memo, Simo said she\u2019ll be starting her role as an OpenAI executive \u201cin a few weeks.\u201d She\u2019ll report directly to CEO Sam Altman.<\/p>\n
Simo\u2019s primary role will be to lead the startup\u2019s business and operational teams, according to Altman\u2019s announcement<\/a> about the hire in May. She\u2019ll be responsible for translating OpenAI\u2019s research into viable products like ChatGPT, the API (which developers use to build their own tools atop OpenAI\u2019s technology), and enterprise tools\u2014and securing high-profile business partnerships.<\/p>\n In the memo, Simo outlines her thinking on how AI will impact knowledge, health, creative expression, economic freedom, time, and support. She promotes a few common ideas that paint a rosy picture of AI: personalized AI tutors, better health data, more opportunities for creative expression, efficiency gains from automation, and AI-powered emotional support (a hotly debated<\/a> topic).<\/p>\n \u201cMy business coach Katia has been transformative to my career, and I\u2019ve joked with her over the years that everyone needs a \u2018Katia in their pocket,\u2019\u201d Simo wrote. \u201cPersonalized coaching has obviously been a privilege reserved for a few, but now with ChatGPT, it can be available to many.\u201d<\/p>\n The memo reads like a mission statement, not just for the Applications division, but for OpenAI\u2019s broader bet: that it can build tools that feel as personal and indispensable as a search engine or a smartphone. In the memo, Simo positions OpenAI\u2019s products as the great equalizer that knocks down society\u2019s barriers to knowledge, income, and emotional clarity\u2014though whether it will actually do so remains to be seen.<\/p>\n \u201cAI can compress thousands of hours of learning into personalized insights delivered in plain language, at the pace that suits us, responsive to our specific level of understanding,\u201d Simo writes. \u201cIt doesn\u2019t just answer questions\u2014it teaches us to ask better ones. And it helps us develop confidence in areas that once felt opaque or intimidating, growing both personally and professionally.\u201d<\/p>\n The memo also hints at OpenAI\u2019s vision for emotional companions. In the closing section, Simo writes that AI coaches \u201ccan be available throughout every day, leverage their full understanding of all aspects of your life to help support you, and bring your subconscious patterns to your consciousness.\u201d<\/p>\n That idea goes hand-in-hand with the rumored hardware device OpenAI is creating with famed designer Jony Ive, which The Wall Street Journal reported<\/a> will be \u201cfully aware of a user\u2019s surroundings and life.\u201d Altman hasn\u2019t shied away<\/a> from flat-out saying the company hopes to build an AI similar to the movie Her, where a lonely man fresh out of a failed marriage turns to a virtual companion named Samantha. That, of course, has also gotten Altman into hot water, since critics note that the film is more of a cautionary tale than a business opportunity.<\/p>\n The memo was very on brand for an OpenAI executive: optimistic and based largely on future promises. While Altman, Simo\u2019s boss, works to coordinate some of the more futuristic ideas, like Stargate<\/a> and artificial general intelligence<\/a>, Simo will work to pair the startup\u2019s complicated research into real tools for consumers.<\/p>\n \u201cIf AI can help people truly understand themselves, it could be one of the biggest gifts we could ever receive,\u201d Simo writes.<\/p>\n Update: 7\/21\/2025 2:45 PM EDT: Wired has clarified that Fidji Simo is still Instacart’s CEO, and will formally join OpenAI next month.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"OpenAI\u2019s incoming CEO of applications, Fidji Simo, sent her first note to staff on Monday, telling employees the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":12150,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[20],"tags":[256,254,255,64,63,164,5044,13961,105],"class_list":{"0":"post-12149","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-artificial-intelligence","8":"tag-ai","9":"tag-artificial-intelligence","10":"tag-artificialintelligence","11":"tag-au","12":"tag-australia","13":"tag-economy","14":"tag-openai","15":"tag-sam-altman","16":"tag-technology"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12149","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12149"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12149\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/12150"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12149"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12149"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12149"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}