Ilya Sutskever, Co-Founder and former Chief Scientist of OpenAI, has secured $1 billion in funding for his new AI company, Safe Superintelligence (SSI). The company’s investors include major firms such as Andreessen Horowitz, Sequoia Capital, DST Global, and SV Angel. Sutskever, along with Co-Founders Daniel Gross and Daniel Levy, aims to focus exclusively on the development of safe AI technologies. SSI, which operates out of Palo Alto, California, and Tel Aviv, Israel, has committed to prioritizing safety, security, and progress in AI without the distractions of short-term commercial pressures. Sutskever announced that the company will pursue “one focus, one goal, and one product.”
Sutskever’s departure from OpenAI earlier this year followed internal disagreements within the company’s leadership, including his involvement in the brief ousting of CEO Sam Altman. Sutskever later expressed regret for his role in the event, apologizing publicly. At OpenAI, he was instrumental in leading the Superalignment team focused on AI safety, which was disbanded after his and Jan Leike’s exits. With SSI, Sutskever is returning to his core mission of ensuring the development of superintelligence that is safe for humanity, continuing his work in the AI sector with a more focused and independent vision.