AsianFin -- OpenAI CEO Sam Altman has hired Instacart chief executive Fidji Simo as the company’s new CEO of Applications, a move aimed at accelerating the development and deployment of AI-powered products.

Altman, who will remain CEO of OpenAI, said the addition will allow him to focus more on research, compute infrastructure, and AI safety.

"Applications brings together a group of existing business and operational teams responsible for how our research reaches and benefits the world, and Fidji is uniquely qualified to lead this group," Altman said in a message to employees, which OpenAI shared publicly on Wednesday.

Simo’s appointment marks a strategic expansion of OpenAI’s leadership as it pushes to commercialize its AI technologies more aggressively.