OpenAI’s former exec disagrees with Amodei on most things, but backs his AI cancer view

Fidji Simo, a former OpenAI executive and co-founder of biomedical startup ChronicleBio, expressed disagreement with Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei on most matters but strongly backed his perspective on AI's potential medical breakthroughs. Responding to Amodei's recent post on X, Simo commented, "I disagree with Dario on most things, but this is spot on... The thing that will work is actually curing cancer."

Simo's remarks followed Amodei's weekend statement emphasizing that AI companies must deliver tangible medical advancements to gain public trust. In her post, Simo agreed with Amodei's sentiment, explaining that claiming AI will cure cancer has become a cliché rather than an inspiring statement. She went further, asserting that the actual solution is curing cancer itself.

Amodei's original remarks were part of a defense of Anthropic's public messaging around AI. He criticized the industry for making unrealistic promises that have not been fulfilled, such as AI curing cancer. Simo echoed this sentiment, acknowledging that while AI has the potential to cure diseases, it is not enough to achieve this goal without proper biological datasets.

The bottleneck, according to Simo, lies in the development of adequate biological datasets. She emphasized that AI cannot reason its way to cures without the necessary data to understand specific diseases. Cancer research, due to the decades of investment and vast datasets in genomics, pathology, imaging, and clinical outcomes, is best positioned for AI breakthroughs.

Simo co-founded ChronicleBio in 2025 to address the data infrastructure gaps in complex chronic diseases that lack the robust datasets found in oncology. Her personal experience with postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome (POTS) added a unique perspective to her work.