“I’m beginning a brand new firm,” Sutskever mentioned of his new mission, Secure Superintelligence Inc. (SSI) in an X put up.
In response to SSI’s web site, the lab has “one purpose and one product: a secure superintelligence.” SSI says this can be achieved by advancing their “capabilities as quick as potential whereas ensuring security at all times stays forward.”
“This fashion, we will scale in peace,” the corporate mentioned.
Apart from Sutskever, the corporate lists amongst its cofounders former Apple AI lead, Daniel Gross, and ex-OpenAI technical workers member Daniel Levy.
When Bloomberg’s Ashlee Vance requested in regards to the firm’s monetary backers, Sutskever declined to disclose SSI’s backers and the funding it has obtained.
In its launch announcement, SSI mentioned that it wasn’t distracted by “administration overhead or product cycles” as a result of its “singular focus” on security meant that it was “insulated from short-term business pressures.”
“It will likely be totally insulated from the surface pressures of getting to cope with a big and complex product and having to be caught in a aggressive rat race,” Sutskever informed Bloomberg’s Vance.
Representatives for Secure Superintelligence and OpenAI did not instantly reply to requests for remark from BI despatched exterior common enterprise hours.
SSI comes after months of uncertainty over Sutskever’s future at OpenAI
Talks of Sutskever’s post-OpenAI strikes have been brewing ever since he left the ChatGPT maker final month. In a farewell put up he printed on X on Might 14, Sutskever solely mentioned that he was going to work on a “mission that may be very personally significant” to him.
Sutskever performed a vital function in OpenAI’s AI breakthroughs, with fellow cofounder Elon Musk even referring to him because the “linchpin” of the corporate’s success.
However Sutskever’s future at OpenAI grew to become unsure after it got here to mild that he’d initially pushed for Sam Altman’s ouster as CEO in November.
The corporate’s board mentioned in a assertion on November 17, 2023, that Altman’s removing got here after he “was not persistently candid in his communications with the board” however didn’t give additional particulars.
Sutskever later expressed remorse for his choice and known as for Altman’s reinstatement alongside different OpenAI workers.
Altman was ultimately introduced again as CEO simply 5 days after he was ousted, however the incident appeared to drive a wedge between him and Sutskever.
Following Altman’s return, Sutskever appeared to have been shut out of OpenAI, BI reported in December, citing folks conversant in the state of affairs.
This is not the primary time OpenAI has seen its workers members splintering off to begin their very own AI firms.
In 2021, former OpenAI workers and siblings Dario and Daniela Amodei based their very own AI startup, Anthropic. The corporate, which has traders together with Amazon and Google, has additionally sought to place itself as extra safety-conscious than its business opponents.
