We are announcing three new members to our Board of Directors as the first step towards our commitment to expansion: dr. Sue Desmond-Hellmann, former executive director of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Nicole Seligman, former EVP and General Counsel at Sony Corporation and Fiji Simo, CEO and President of Instacart. Additionally, Sam AltmanCEO, will rejoin OpenAI's board of directors.
Sue, Nicole and Fidji have experience leading global organizations and managing complex regulatory environments, including experience in technology, non-profit organizations and board governance. They will work closely with current board members Adam D'Angelo, Larry Summers, and Bret Taylor, as well as Sam and OpenAI's senior management.
Bret Taylor, Chair of the OpenAI Board, stated: “I am excited to welcome Sue, Nicole and Fidji to the OpenAI Board of Directors. Their experience and leadership will enable the Board to oversee the growth of OpenAI and ensure that we pursue OpenAI's mission of ensuring that general artificial intelligence benefits all of humanity.”
Dr. Sue Desmond-Hellmann is a non-profit leader and physician. dr. Desmond-Hellmann currently serves on the Pfizer Board of Directors and the President's Council of Science and Technology Advisors. Previously, she was a director at Proctor and Gamble, Meta (Facebook) and the Bill & Melinda Gates Institute for Medical Research. She was the chief executive officer of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation from 2014 to 2020. From 2009 to 2014, she was a professor and chancellor of the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF), the first woman to hold that position. She also previously served as president of product development at Genentech, where she played a leading role in the development of the first gene-targeted cancer drugs.
Nicole Seligman is a globally recognized corporate and civic leader and attorney. He currently serves on the corporate boards of three public companies – Paramount Global, MeiraGTx Holdings PLC and Intuitive Machines, Inc. Seligman has held several senior management positions at Sony entities, including executive vice president and general counsel at Sony Corporation, where she oversaw functions including global legal and compliance matters. She also served as president of Sony Entertainment, Inc. and concurrently served as president of Sony Corporation of America. Seligman currently holds leadership roles at the nonprofit Schwarzman Animal Medical Center, The Doe Fund, Ready, willing and able, transitions of former homeless people and the Church, an artistic organization. Previously, Seligman was a partner in the litigation practice of Williams & Connolly LLP in Washington, DC, working on complex civil and criminal matters and advising a wide range of clients, including President William Jefferson Clinton and Hillary Clinton. She served as a law clerk to Justice Thurgood Marshall on the United States Supreme Court.
Fiji Simo is a veteran of the consumer technology industry, having spent more than 15 years leading operations, strategy and product development for some of the world's leading companies. She is the Chief Executive Officer and President of Instacart. She is also a board member at Shopify. Prior to joining Instacart, Simo was Vice President and Head of the Facebook App. During her last decade at Facebook, she oversaw the Facebook app, including News Feed, Stories, Groups, Video, Marketplace, Gaming, News, Dating, Ads and more. Simo founded Metrodor Institutea multidisciplinary medical clinic and research foundation dedicated to the care and treatment of neuroimmune axis disorders and is the president of the Metrodora Foundation.