Nscale Taps Ex-OpenAI Exec Fidji Simo for Board Ahead of IPO — SkimNews
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- Nscale appointed former OpenAI, Meta, and Instacart executive Fidji Simo to its board, joining Sheryl Sandberg, Susan Decker, and Nick Clegg ahead of the startup's anticipated fall IPO.
- Fidji Simo previously served as CEO of AGI deployment at OpenAI—described as essentially the No. 2 executive—and left the company in July citing health reasons, though she still advises part-time.
- Simo led Instacart as chair and CEO through its 2023 IPO, spent over a decade at Meta including as head of the Facebook app, and currently sits on Shopify's board.
- Nscale founder and CEO Josh Payne said Simo is one of the few leaders who understands scaling products used by billions and the infrastructure demands those products create.
- Nscale, a two-year-old U.K.-based AI data center startup, is reportedly trying to raise up to $3.5 billion ahead of its planned IPO, according to Bloomberg.
Why it matters: Simo's track record—shepherding Instacart through its 2023 IPO and serving as OpenAI's No. 2—gives a two-year-old U.K. AI infrastructure startup seasoned operators ahead of its own fall listing. The reported $3.5 billion raise and a board stacked with Sandberg and Clegg signal Nscale is arming aggressively for public-market scrutiny as AI compute demand surges.
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