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Fidji Simo, OpenAI’s product and business chief, announced several leadership changes on Friday and revealed she is taking a significant medical leave because of a worsening neuroimmune condition.
OpenAI hired Simo in May, and she told staffers in a memo on Friday that her condition, Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome, or POTS, relapsed a few weeks before she started in the role. She said the past month has been “particularly rough health-wise,” and she decided she needs to take several weeks off to recover.
“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,” Simo wrote in the memo, which was viewed by CNBC. “I took time off for the first time two weeks before the break 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.”
In an interview with CNBC in March, Simo said she was diagnosed with POTS in 2019, and she saw more than 40 specialists as she tried to understand her condition. Patients with POTS have difficulty keeping their blood pressure steady, which can cause symptoms like dizziness, fatigue and chest pains, according to the Cleveland Clinic. The condition can be challenging for health-care providers to diagnose.
