OpenAI Co-Founder Raises $1 Billion for New Company

Co-founder of OpenAI, Ilya Sutskever, left the company in May and raised $1 billion for his new artificial intelligence company, Safe Superintelligence (SSI).

In a post on the X platform, the company announced that investors include Andreessen Horowitz, Sequoia Capital, DST Global, SV Angel, and the investment partnership NFDG, co-managed by SSI executive Daniel Gross.

Sutskever announced the new company on the X platform in May, stating, "We will directly pursue safe superintelligence with a single focus, goal, and product."

Sutskever was the Chief Scientist of OpenAI and co-led the company's Superalignment team with Jan Leike. Leike also left in May to join rival AI company Anthropic. Shortly after their departures, OpenAI disbanded the team, which was formed just a year ago. A source familiar with the situation told CNBC that some members of the team were reassigned to other teams within the company.

In a post on the X platform, Leike wrote, "OpenAI's safety culture and processes have taken a backseat to shiny products."

Sutskever, along with former Apple AI and search executive Daniel Gross and former OpenAI employee Daniel Levy, co-founded SSI. 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 wrote in a post on the X platform. "The significance of our singular focus is that there are no management overheads or product cycles to distract us, and our business model means that safety, security, and progress are not compromised by short-term commercial pressures."

Sutskever is a member of the OpenAI board and was involved in the November motion to temporarily remove co-founder and CEO Sam Altman.

In a statement in November, the OpenAI board said Altman "failed to maintain consistent candor in his communications with the board." But the situation quickly became more complicated. According to The Wall Street Journal and other media reports, Sutskever focused on ensuring that AI does not harm humans, while others, including Altman, were more interested in advancing the delivery of new technologies.

Almost all OpenAI employees signed an open letter stating that they would resign due to the board's actions. Altman returned to the company a few days later.

Before Altman's sudden dismissal and swift return, Sutskever publicly apologized for his actions on the X platform.

"I deeply regret my involvement in the board's actions," Sutskever wrote in a post on November 20. "I never intended to harm OpenAI. I love everything we have built together, and I will do everything in my power to bring the company back together."