Nscale, a rapidly growing artificial intelligence data center startup based in the United Kingdom, has appointed former OpenAI executive Fidji Simo to its board of directors. The move comes as the company prepares for a potential public offering later this year.
Simo joins a roster of high-profile tech leaders on the Nscale board, including Sheryl Sandberg, Susan Decker, and Nick Clegg. Her addition underscores the startup’s efforts to strengthen its governance and strategic direction as it navigates the road to an anticipated initial public offering (IPO).
Previously serving as CEO of AGI Deployment at OpenAI, effectively making her the second-highest-ranking executive at the company, Simo departed in July, citing health reasons. She continues to provide part-time advisory services to OpenAI. Prior to her role at OpenAI, Simo served as chair and CEO of Instacart, where she guided the grocery delivery service through its 2023 IPO. She also spent over a decade at Meta, including a tenure as head of the Facebook app, and currently sits on the board of Shopify.
Josh Payne, founder and CEO of Nscale, highlighted Simo’s unique expertise in managing massive technological scale. “Fidji is one of the few leaders who understand what it means to scale products used by billions of people and the demands those products place on the underlying systems,” Payne said in a statement. He added that she brings experience in scaling platforms to the largest levels in the world, along with the independence, financial rigor, and operating depth required at this stage.
Nscale was founded just two years ago and has seen its valuation surge due to booming demand for AI infrastructure. The company specializes in designing, building, and operating data centers tailored for artificial intelligence workloads. According to a recent Bloomberg report citing unnamed sources, Nscale is seeking to raise up to $3.5 billion in pre-IPO financing.
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