Ilya Sutskever, co-founder and former chief scientist of OpenAI, announced the creation of a new artificial intelligence company. Safe Superintelligence Inc. will be headquartered in the United States, with offices in both Palo Alto, California, and Tel Aviv, Israel. Sutskever launched Safe Superintelligence just over a month after leaving OpenAI, the company that astonished the world with its ChatGPT.
“Building safe superintelligence (SSI) is the most important technical problem of our time. We’ve started the world’s first straight-shot SSI lab, with one goal and one product: a safe superintelligence,” announced 38-year-old Sutskever via the social network X. Superintelligence, also referred to by others as artificial general intelligence, surpasses human capabilities.
Sutskever’s position within OpenAI, as a machine learning expert with dual Israeli-Canadian citizenship but born in Russia, became somewhat compromised during the failed attempt to dismiss Sam Altman. Sutskever joined independent advisors at OpenAI to dismiss the company’s CEO, in whom they had lost confidence. Later, following a revolt among the company’s employees, he expressed regret: “I deeply regret my participation in the board’s actions. I never intended to harm OpenAI. I love everything we’ve built together and I will do everything I can to reunite the company,” he tweeted.
Speculation arose at the time that the discontent of the chief scientist, a key figure in OpenAI’s development, stemmed from the company advancing too rapidly without appropriate safeguards and succumbing to commercial temptations with its products and services. Amidst the crisis in OpenAI’s leadership, it was reported that several researchers from the company’s staff had sent a letter to the board just before Sam Altman’s dismissal, warning of a powerful artificial intelligence discovery led by Sutskever himself that they believed could threaten humanity.
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In May, when he announced his resignation as chief scientist of OpenAI, he hinted at being “excited” about a new project about which he then preferred not to provide further details. Now, he signs his message alongside another former OpenAI employee, Daniel Levy, and the 32-year-old entrepreneur born in Jerusalem, Daniel Gross, co-founder of the Cue search engine, which was sold to Apple in 2013. Gross subsequently worked on artificial intelligence projects at the tech giant and was a partner at Y-Combinator, as well as an investor in various technology firms such as Instacart, Figma, GitHub, Airtable, Rippling, and Coinbase.
“SSI is our mission, our name, and our entire product roadmap, because it is our sole focus. Our team, investors, and business model are all aligned to achieve SSI,” the three stated in their message.
https://x.com/ilyasut/status/1790517455628198322
They also indicate that they address safety and capabilities jointly, as technical problems to be solved through revolutionary scientific and engineering advancements. “We plan to advance capabilities as quickly as possible, ensuring that our safety always comes first. In this way, we can grow with peace of mind.”
The new company appears to be distancing itself from other firms, including OpenAI, that alongside their research seek to launch products and services that generate enough revenue to continue investing in researchers and computing capacity.
Without providing details of their approach or their investors, Sutskever and his partners affirm: “Our singular focus means no distraction by management overhead or product cycles, and our business model means safety, security, and progress are all insulated from short-term commercial pressures.”
The company explains its dual headquarters in Palo Alto, California, and Tel Aviv, stating that they are “Assembling a lean, cracked team of the world’s best engineers and researchers dedicated to focusing on SSI and nothing else.”
