OpenAI loses safety head and product chief amid executive reshuffle

In a week of significant executive turnover, OpenAI has lost both its head of safety systems, Johannes Heidecke, and its product and business chief, Fidji Simo, as the company reorganizes its safety and research teams and consolidates power under co-founder Greg Brockman ahead of a prospective IPO.

Safety leadership change

Johannes Heidecke, who joined OpenAI in 2021 and became head of safety systems in 2024, is leaving as part of a restructuring that merges safety and research teams under a single leader Source: Wired. Safety teams will now report to Mia Glaese, whose title expands to VP of Research and Safety, with Saachi Jain serving as interim head of safety systems Source: Engadget. Chief Research Officer Mark Chen said the change reflects that "demands on safety continue to increase" and that integration is needed to give safety an earlier role in model decisions Source: Gizmodo. Heidecke's departure follows a pattern of safety leaders exiting, including the dissolution of the Superalignment team in May 2024 and the departure of chief futurist Joshua Achiam earlier this week Source: The Next Web.

Product chief departure

Fidji Simo, OpenAI's CEO of AGI deployment and de facto number two executive, is stepping down from her full-time role to become a part-time advisor, citing an extended medical leave for a chronic neuroimmune condition called POTS Source: CNBC. Simo joined OpenAI in May 2025 and oversaw product and business operations; her responsibilities are being split among Greg Brockman (product), CFO Sarah Friar, and CSO Jason Kwon Source: TechCrunch. CEO Sam Altman expressed gratitude, saying he is "really sad about this" .