Ilya Sutskever, co-founder and chief scientist of OpenAI, gave a speech at Tel Aviv University in Tel Aviv, Israel, on June 5, 2023.
Jack Guess | AFP | Getty Images
OpenAI co-founder Ilya Sutskever, who left the artificial intelligence startup in May, has raised $1 billion from investors for his new artificial intelligence company, Safe Superintelligence (SSI).
The company announced in a statement postal Investors on X include Andreessen Horowitz, Sequoia Capital, DST Global and SV Angel, as well as NFDG, an investment partnership co-run by SSI executive Daniel Gross.
“We will pursue safe superintelligence with one mind, one goal, and one product across the board,” Sutskever wrote on X in May, announcing the new company.
Sutskever is OpenAI's chief scientist and co-led the company's Superalignment team with Jan Leike, who left in May to join rival artificial intelligence company Anthropic. OpenAI disbanded the team shortly after their departure, just a year after announcing its formation. A source familiar with the situation told CNBC at the time that some team members were reassigned to other teams within the company.
Leike wrote in an article on X at the time that OpenAI's “safety culture and processes had given way to shiny products.”
Sutskever co-founded SSI with Daniel Gross, who leads Apple's artificial intelligence and search efforts, and former OpenAI employee Daniel Levy. The company has offices in Palo Alto, California, and Tel Aviv, Israel.
“SSI is our mission, our name, and our entire product roadmap because it is our sole focus,” the company posted on And distractions, while our business model means safety, security and progress are unaffected by short-term commercial pressures.
Sutskever is a member of OpenAI's board of directors and participated in the temporary ouster of co-founder and CEO Sam Altman in November.
In November, OpenAI's board of directors said in a statement that Altman “has not always been candid in his communications with the board.” The problem quickly became more complicated. wall street journal and other media reports that Suzkweil is focused on ensuring that artificial intelligence does not harm humans, while others, including Ultraman, are more eager to push the development of new technologies.
Nearly all OpenAI employees signed an open letter saying they were leaving in response to the board's action. A few days later, Ultraman returned to the company.
After Ultraman suddenly evicted Before being quickly reinstated, Suzkowir publicly apologized for his role in the ordeal.
Sutskever wrote in a Nov. 20 post on OpenAI is back together.