OpenAI co-founder Ilya Sutskever's latest AI venture Safe Superintelligence Inc raises $1B

OpenAICo-founder and former Chief Scientist Ilya Sutskever's latest AI venture Safe Superintelligence Inc has secured $1 billion in funding. The investment was led by NFDG, Andreessen Horowitz, Sequoia Capital, DST Global, and SV Angel.

Safe Superintelligence Inc (SSI), which was launched in June this year, focuses on building safe and reliable artificial intelligence (AI) systems. 

The company announced the news in a post on X (formerly known as Twitter).

“SSI is building a straight shot to safe superintelligence. We’ve raised $1B from NFDG, a16z, Sequoia, DST Global, and SV Angel,” said the post. 

The news was first reported by Reuters.

According to the report, the 10-member team at SSI intends to use the funds for acquiring computing power and recruiting top talent.

The company will also focus on assembling a small but highly trusted team of researchers and engineers, with operations based in both Palo Alto, California, and Tel Aviv, Israel.

Its goal is to address safety and capabilities simultaneously, treating both as technical challenges that can be solved through innovative engineering and scientific breakthroughs. 

“We plan to advance capabilities as fast as possible while making sure our safety always remains ahead. This way, we can scale in peace. 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,” reads an earlier joint statement by Ilya Sutskever and co-founders Daniel Gross and Daniel Levy. 

Gross previously served as the AI lead at Apple, while Levy is a former OpenAI employee. 

After announcing his departure from OpenAI in May, Sutskever spearheaded the move to remove CEO Sam Altman last year. Not long after, AI researcher Jan Leike left OpenAI over safety concerns to join the AI startup Anthropic.