&imwidth=800&imheight=600&format=webp&quality=medium "Fidji Simo to step down as OpenAI's AGI Deployment CEO due to POTS. Know more about the disease, symptoms and how she managed it")
Fidji Simo announced on Thursday (Jul 9) that she was stepping down from her full-time role at OpenAI as CEO of Artificial General Intelligence (AGI) Deployment due to health issues, transitioning to a part-time adviser role. Simo has postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome (POTS), a neuroimmune condition she has lived with for about seven years after being diagnosed around 2019. She has described experiencing severe flare-ups requiring ongoing treatment and management. Who is Fidji Simo, what is POTS, and how did her diagnosis make her an advocate of AI for tackling such rare diseases?
About Fidji Simo, who is exiting as OpenAI AGI CEO
Fidji Simo, born on 5 October 1985, is a French-American business executive. She grew up in Sète, a small fishing town in southern France, and was the first in her family to graduate high school. She later earned a Master of Science in Management from HEC Paris and spent her final year at the UCLA Anderson School of Management.
Simo joined Facebook- now Meta Platforms- in 2011, eventually becoming head of the Facebook app and a key aide of founder-CEO Mark Zuckerberg. From 2021 to 2025, she served as CEO of grocery delivery company Instacart. She joined OpenAI's board in March 2024 and was appointed the company's first CEO of Applications in May 2025, later retitled CEO of AGI Deployment. Reporting to OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, she oversaw product, engineering, operations and business teams. She has also served on the boards of Shopify and Cirque du Soleil, among others.
What is postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome (POTS) which Fidgi Simo is suffering from?
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Postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome or POTS is a disorder of the autonomic nervous system that affects heart rate, blood circulation and other involuntary body functions. It is marked by an unusually rapid increase in heart rate when standing. Common symptoms include dizziness, light-headedness, fatigue, fainting, chest pain, nausea, heart palpitations and difficulty standing for long periods. POTS often overlaps with conditions such as myalgic encephalomyelitis or chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS), migraines and Long COVID. Around 80 per cent of diagnosed cases occur in women, and the condition is often underdiagnosed.
Simo has said she consulted nearly 40 specialists before receiving a diagnosis, highlighting the difficulties many patients face in obtaining appropriate care.
How Fidgi Simo managed POTS while on a high-flying career
Simo has spoken publicly about living with POTS to raise awareness and reduce stigma around chronic illnesses. She managed the condition through medical treatment and lifestyle adjustments, including exercise, sleep, nutrition and avoiding known triggers, while continuing to lead major technology companies. However, a severe flare-up in early 2026 led to medical leave in April, and her recovery took longer than expected, prompting her to step down from her full-time position.
Based on her experiences, Simo also became an advocate for neuroimmune research. She co-founded the Metrodora Institute and ChronicleBio, and serves as president of the non-profit Complex Disorders Alliance (CODA), supporting research, improved diagnosis and better treatments for conditions such as POTS and CFS. She has also highlighted the potential of AI to improve care for patients with complex chronic illnesses.
