OpenAI’s chief of product and business, Fidji Simo, announced on Thursday that she is stepping down from her role to focus on recovering from a severe flare-up of a chronic illness.

Simo, who was diagnosed with Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome in 2019, said the condition has required her to spend countless hours managing symptoms, undergoing treatment, navigating insurance issues, and handling the often unseen challenges of living with a chronic illness.

She had taken medical leave from OpenAI in April, during which OpenAI President Greg Brockman assumed responsibility for the company’s product operations.

“When I went on leave, many people told me I was courageous for prioritizing my health,” Simo wrote in a post on X on Thursday. “The truth is that I am only making this decision now because I failed to make it many times before.”

Simo said she will transition into a part-time advisory role at OpenAI following her departure, allowing her to continue supporting the company while prioritising her health and recovery.

OpenAI appointed Simo in May 2025 to lead its applications business as the company expanded its commercial operations. At the time, Chief Executive Sam Altman said she would focus on scaling OpenAI’s core business functions as the company entered its next phase of growth.

Before joining OpenAI, Simo served as chief executive of Instacart, where she led the grocery delivery company through its successful initial public offering, ending the longest drought in U.S. technology IPOs in more than 30 years. Earlier in her career, she spent over a decade at Meta, including serving as the head of Facebook between 2019 and 2021.

“Two years after I got sick, Facebook offered me the opportunity to take a full year of medical leave. I didn’t even pause to consider it. I immediately said no,” Simo wrote on Thursday.

She added that Meta Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg had advised her to “play the long game,” reflecting that she now wished she had taken that advice.