TNB Tech Minute: OpenAI’s Fidji Simo Taking Medical Leave Amid IPO Preparations

WSJ Tech News Briefing

The Wall Street Journal

Tech News, News

4.3 • 1.7K Ratings

🗓️ 3 April 2026

⏱️ 3 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Plus: AI trainer Mercor is offering to pay people for previous work they may not own. And a group of former Grubhub executives are trying to bring the food delivery model to roadside repair. Danny Lewis hosts. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	Nearly home.
0:02.2	Isn't home where we all want to be?
0:04.4	Reba here for Realtor.com, the pro's number one most trusted app.
0:09.1	A dream home isn't a dream home if it comes with a nightmare commute.
0:12.7	That's why realter.com has real commute, so you can search by drive time.
0:17.7	Download the realtor.com app today because you're nearly home. Make it real with
0:23.5	real with realtor.com. Pro's number one most trusted app based on August 2025 proprietary survey.
0:31.4	Here's your afternoon TNB Tech Minute for Friday, April 3rd. I'm Danny Lewis for the Wall Street
0:36.7	Journal. OpenAI's product and
0:39.3	business chief is taking medical leave for several weeks as the company revamps its leadership
0:43.6	ranks and prepares to make its public market debut. In an internal note to staff, Fiji Simo said a
0:49.9	neuroimmune condition had worsened, and that she'd postponed medical tests and new therapies in order
0:55.2	to stay focused at work since joining the artificial intelligence company last August.
1:00.3	Simo's planned leave comes as OpenAI has fallen behind its rival, Anthropic, in the race to win
1:05.6	over new business customers.
1:07.8	Simo has overseen the effort to refocus the company's resources to catch up, including
1:12.2	building a new super app combining chat GPT with a new coding tool called Codex.
1:18.2	News Corp, owner of the Wall Street Journal, has a content licensing partnership with OpenAI.
1:23.7	We exclusively report that AI training startup Mercor is offering to pay contractors for prior work materials, raising intellectual property concerns.
1:32.3	The $10 billion startup pays contractors to give feedback on the output of AI models.
1:37.3	Its clients have included OpenAI and other AI companies.
1:41.3	In recent weeks, Mercore has approached professionals and industries like entertainment
	...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from The Wall Street Journal, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of The Wall Street Journal and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.