OpenAI Announces Major Leadership Restructuring Amid Executive Health Leaves Ahead of Planned IPO

OpenAI unveiled a sweeping organizational shakeup this Friday, headlined by the news that Fidji Simo, the company’s chief executive of AGI deployment, will step back for medical leave to prioritize her personal health. In Simo’s absence, OpenAI president Greg Brockman will take over oversight of all product teams that previously reported to Simo, who formerly held the title of CEO of applications.

The restructuring brings changes for multiple other top OpenAI executives. Brad Lightcap, the company’s chief operating officer and one of CEO Sam Altman’s closest senior deputies, is transitioning into a new role focused on special internal projects. Separately, chief marketing officer Kate Rouch is also taking a leave of absence to focus on her health; Rouch has been undergoing ongoing treatment for breast cancer. According to an internal staff note from Simo reviewed by WIRED, when Rouch returns to the company, she will step into a new, more narrowly defined role.

In her note, posted to OpenAI’s internal “core” Slack channel, Simo opened up about her own long-running health situation: “As I shared when I joined, I had a relapse of my neuroimmune condition a few weeks before starting the job. 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 ago 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.”

Per Simo’s internal post, her leave is expected to span “several weeks.”

In his new special projects role, Lightcap will lead OpenAI’s forward-deployed engineering teams, which embed directly with partner enterprise organizations to support integration of OpenAI’s technology, among other key responsibilities.

Simo confirmed that OpenAI will immediately launch a search for a new permanent chief marketing officer. The company is also recruiting for a new chief communications officer to replace Hannah Wong, who departed her role in January. Chris Lehane has stepped in as interim leader of the communications team in the meantime.

An OpenAI spokesperson shared the company’s official statement on the leadership changes: “We have a strong leadership team focused on our biggest priorities: advancing frontier research, growing our global user base of nearly 1 billion users, and powering enterprise use cases. We're well-positioned to keep executing with continuity and momentum.”

Simo joined OpenAI in August 2025, where she took over leadership of the company’s full portfolio of consumer-facing products, including ChatGPT, Codex, and the social video app Sora. Most recently, she oversaw the shutdown of the standalone Sora app, telling staff the company needed to cut non-core side projects and redirect resources to refocus on its core flagship offerings.

The leadership changes come at a pivotal moment for OpenAI, which is targeting an initial public offering (IPO) as soon as this year. The company recently closed a $122 billion funding round — the largest ever recorded in the global technology industry — that valued OpenAI at $852 billion.