NewsOpenAI hires former head of the Facebook appFidji Simo spent more than a decade at Facebook and currently serves as the CEO of Instacart.Fidji Simo spent more than a decade at Facebook and currently serves as the CEO of Instacart.by Emma RothMay 8, 2025, 3:45 PM UTCLinkFacebookThreads Photographer: David Paul Morris/Bloomberg via Getty ImagesEmma Roth is a news writer who covers the streaming wars, consumer tech, crypto, social media, and much more. Previously, she was a writer and editor at MUO.OpenAI has hired Fidji Simo, the CEO of Instacart and former Facebook app chief, as the head of the company’s apps business. In a post on X, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman says introducing the new role will allow him to “focus on research, compute, and safety.”After joining Facebook in 2011, the company appointed Simo head of the Facebook app in 2019. Simo oversaw features like the News Feed, Stories, live video, and more, helping to build out the company’s advertising business. Instacart hired Simo as its CEO in 2021 and led efforts to bring the company public just two years later.Simo has served as an OpenAI board member since last year, but she won’t leave Instacart right away to join the AI giant. In a post on LinkedIn, Simo tells Instacart staff that she’s “not going anywhere for a couple of months,” adding that she’ll remain CEO until the company announces a successor.Apps have become a major part of OpenAI’s business as ChatGPT has launched across iOS, Android, Windows, and macOS. OpenAI is also building an X-like social network, as The Verge reported in April.See More: AIAppsBusinessFacebookMetaNewsOpenAITechMost PopularMost PopularAndroid’s splashy new paint job won’t yank Gen Z from iPhonesHow Microsoft shrunk its Surface devicesEcoFlow brings its plug-in solar power plant to US homesSony WH-1000XM6 headphone specs and details leak earlyMicrosoft and Asus’ Xbox handheld appears in leaked photosInstallerA weekly newsletter by David Pierce designed to tell you everything you need to download, watch, read, listen to, and explore that fits in The Verge’s universe.Email (required)Sign UpBy submitting your email, you agree to our Terms and Privacy Notice. This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.Advertiser Content FromThis is the title for the native ad