OpenAI Co-Founder Ilya Sutskever To Start New AI Firm

Tom Jowitt,
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Ilya Sutskever is creating a new AI firm, as part of his stated intention for a project that ‘personally meaningful’ to him

The new project that is ‘personally meaningful’ to OpenAI co-founder and former chief scientist Ilya Sutskever, is a new artificial intelligence (AI) firm that he (and some others) are creating.

Sutskever had resigned from OpenAI last month without giving a clear reason for his departure, other than teasing a new project that would be ‘personally meaningful’ to him.

Sutskever is a notable figure in the AI industry, and OpenAI CEO Sam Altman had described him as “easily one of the greatest minds of our generation, a guiding light of our field, and a dear friend.”

The Sustainability of AI
The Sustainability of AI

Safe Superintelligence Inc

Before co-founding OpenAI, Sutskever had worked as a researcher at Google Brain, but began his career working with Dr Geoffrey Hinton, one of the so-called “godfathers of AI”.

Now on Wednesday Sutskever announced his new move, when he tweeted he is starting a new AI firm to concentrating on building safe superintelligence (SSI).

Indeed, the firm is called Safe Superintelligence Inc.

Sutskever is joined in creating Safe Superintelligence Inc by former OpenAI researcher Daniel Levy, as well as Daniel Gross, co-founder of Cue and a former AI lead at Apple.

In another tweet, Sutskever said the new firm “will pursue safe superintelligence in a straight shot, with one focus, one goal, and one product. We will do it through revolutionary breakthroughs produced by a small cracked team.”

Seeking staff

“We have started the world’s first straight-shot SSI lab, with one goal and one product: a safe superintelligence,” the firm’s webpage states. “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.”

“We approach safety and capabilities in tandem, as technical problems to be solved through revolutionary engineering and scientific breakthroughs,” the firm states. “We plan to advance capabilities as fast as possible while making sure our safety always remains ahead.”

SSI Inc touts that its “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.”

And it seems it will be based in both the United States and Israel.

“We are an American company with offices in Palo Alto and Tel Aviv, where we have deep roots and the ability to recruit top technical talent,” SSI Inc said.

The AI startup then appealed for potential recruits.

“We are assembling a lean, cracked team of the world’s best engineers and researchers dedicated to focusing on SSI and nothing else.