22 July 2025 : In a few weeks, Fidji Simo will take over the reins at artificial intelligence (AI) company OpenAI, and that too, for a newly created role of CEO of Applications. The former Instacart CEO insists one of her key focus areas will be to get the company’s technologies into the hands of more people around the world. Simo, who calls herself a “pragmatic technologist”, does seem to be bringing a renewed sense of optimism not just for the AI company, but also for how AI’s intersection with its users will unfold.
“I believe AI will unlock more opportunities for more people than any other technology in history. If we get this right, AI can give everyone more power than ever,” she writes in a memo, ahead of taking over. But there isn’t over-the-top optimism, as she alludes to a note of caution as well. “That’s why we have to be intentional about how we build and share these technologies so they lead to greater opportunity and prosperity for more people. The choices we make today will shape whether the coming transformation leads to greater empowerment for all, or greater concentration of wealth and power for the few,” Simo adds.
One gets the sense that her key focus areas are knowledge, health, creative expression, economic freedom, time, and support. For each, she outlines her vision. “If we can make intelligence accessible everywhere, affordable to everyone, and easy to understand, we can drive the biggest opportunity engine the world has ever seen and help more people live better lives,” she says. Simo will be reporting to OpenAI CEO Sam Altman.
A 2024 OpenAI study noted that 90% of users insist ChatGPT helped them “understand complex ideas more easily.” The incoming CEO believes a personalised AI tutor on every topic, available to everyone, will help AI close the gap between people who have resources to learn and those who don’t. Those who have “historically been left behind”, she says. What might help with this mission specifically, is the user base. Latest numbers from OpenAI suggest that ChatGPT users send more than 2.5 billion prompts every day. That translates to 912.5 billion requests annually.
OpenAI is believed to be preparing to release its next big model, the GPT-5, as well as an AI powered web browser. There are two already available, that is rival AI company Perplexity’s Comet and The Browser Company’s Dia.
Simo’s role at OpenAI will primarily be about translating the developments emerging from the company’s research labs, into products and applications for the real world. The focus will include consumers, enterprises and new use-cases such as a shift towards AI web browsers with agentic capabilities.
In May, OpenAI and Sir Jony Ive announced a partnership to develop new products, but little has been heard on that front since. Does Simo’s mention of “AI coaches” in what clearly is a mission statement, be hinting at an upcoming hardware product from OpenAI? “AI coaches, on the other hand, can 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,” she says.
For OpenAI, the hiring of a CEO of Applications will allow for multiple tracks of thought and deployment. Simo’s focus areas will seek to develop and build new products and business models, which will likely free Altman’s calendar for broader strategy initiatives such as the futuristic artificial general intelligence (AGI) and the $500 billion Stargate project, which they co-own with SoftBank group and Oracle Corporation, for massive investments in AI infrastructure in the US.
Summary :
Fidji Simo, OpenAI’s newly appointed CEO of Applications, emphasizes AI’s transformative potential to democratize knowledge, creativity, health, and economic opportunity for individuals globally.