OpenAI Co-Founder's AI Startup 'Safe Superintelligence' Nears $1B Funding at $30B Valuation

OpenAI cofounder Ilya Sutskever's new AI startup is fundraising with a $30 billion valuation

A new artificial intelligence company from one of the cofounders of OpenAI is quickly becoming one of the most highly valued AI firms in an increasingly crowded marketplace. Ilya Sutskever's Safe Superintelligence (SSI) is in the process of raising in excess of $1 billion with a valuation topping $30 billion. Bloomberg reports San Francisco-based Greenoaks Capital Partners is leading the deal and plans to invest $500 million itself. Greenoaks did not reply to a request for comment about the investment. $30 billion might be well short of the $340 billion valuation OpenAI boasts, but it's still well above many others in the space, including Perplexity, which has a $9 billion valuation. The new figure is significantly higher than SSI's $5 billion valuation in its last round, held this past September, when it raised $1 billion from investors including Sequoia Capital and Andreessen Horowitz. SSI was founded by Ilya Sutskever, Daniel Gross, and Daniel Levy last June, just one month after Sutskever departed OpenAI. Very little is known about the company so far, aside from its stated goal of building . . . well, a "safe superintelligent" AI system. The company does not yet have a product on the market. "We approach safety and capabilities in tandem as technical problems to be solved through revolutionary engineering and scientific breakthroughs," the company's website reads. "We plan to advance capabilities as fast as possible while making sure our safety always remains ahead. . . . We have started the world's first straight-shot SSI lab, with one goal and one product: a safe superintelligence."

Ilya Sutskever's Safe Superintelligence reportedly raising over $1B on $30B valuation - SiliconANGLE

Ilya Sutskever's Safe Superintelligence reportedly raising over $1B on $30B valuation Safe Superintelligence Inc., a company co-founded by former OpenAI employee and co-founder Ilya Sutskever (pictured), is reportedly in the process of raising a new round of more than $1 billion on a valuation of over $30 billion. Bloomberg reports, referencing a person "who asked not to be identified discussing private information," that Greenoaks Capital Partners is leading the round. Bloomberg's report follows a similar report from Reuters on Feb. 7 claiming that Safe Superintelligence was seeking to raise money on at least $20 billion valuation. Safe Superintelligence has previously raised more than $1 billion in funding on a $5 billion valuation in September. Previous investors in the company include Andreessen Horowitz, Sequoia Capital Operations, DST Global Ltd., SV Angel and Northern Four Dragon Gate Capital. Founded in June 2024, one month after Sutskever left OpenAI following his attempts to oust Chief Executive Officer Sam Altman in November 2023 over safety concerns over OpenAI's models moving towards artificial general intelligence, Safe Superintelligence - as its name suggests - is aiming to build safe superintelligent artificial intelligence models. "Building safe superintelligence (SSI) is the most important technical problem of our time," the company's founders Sutskever, Daniel Gross and Daniel Levy write on the company website, which, eight months after the company launched, consists of one page of text and nothing else. "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 founders added. "We plan to advance capabilities as fast as possible while making sure our safety always remains ahead." So far, SSI has not launched a single product. Sutskever told Bloomberg previously that the company's first product will be "safe superintelligence and it will not do anything else up until then" and that it "will be fully insulated from the outside pressures of having to deal with a large and complicated product and having to be stuck in a competitive rat race." With no product to show, the new funding could be described as a leap of faith in Sutskever, or as Reuters has previously noted, "what has fueled interest among investors is Sutskever's reputation and the novel approach he has said his team is working on." The news that SSI is raising new funding comes as investors continue to flood into AI companies, such as Anthropic PBC, which raised $1 billion from Google LLC in January and OpenAI, which raised $6.6 billion on a $157 billion valuation in October.

There's Something Very Weird About This $30 Billion AI Startup by a Man Who Said Neural Networks May Already Be Conscious

Three years ago, OpenAI cofounder and former chief scientist Ilya Sutskever raised eyebrows when he declared that the era's most advanced neural networks might have already become "slightly conscious." That flair for hype is on full display at Sutskever's new venture, another AI outfit sporting the un-subtle name of "Safe Superintelligence." And if you were fretting that OpenAI's business model was suffering from Alice-in-Wonderland logic, Sutskever's new project will have you all the way through the looking glass. As the Financial Times flags, the company just raised another $1 billion, adding to previous investments from deep-pocketed investors at Andreessen Horowitz and Sequoia Capital and bringing its valuation up to $30 billion. The wild thing? It's done all that -- including attaining a valuation higher than Warner Bros, Nokia, or the Dow Chemical Company -- without offering any product whatsoever. In fact, Sutskever has previously bragged, it will never offer a product -- until, that is, it drops a fully-formed superintelligent AI at some unspecified point in the future. "This company is special in that its first product will be the safe superintelligence, and it will not do anything else up until then," the erstwhile OpenAI-er told Bloomberg back when he first launched the operation. "It will be fully insulated from the outside pressures of having to deal with a large and complicated product and having to be stuck in a competitive rat race." It's not unusual, of course, for venture capitalists to invest in companies that don't yet have products -- but throwing billions at one whose sole purpose is to create something that might not even exist within our lifetimes is a stretch, even by VC standards. Despite Sutskever's amply-derided insistence to the contrary, there is little reason to believe that AI researchers are anywhere near creating artificial general intelligence (AGI), much less the type of system that surpasses human cognition. While the timeline for reaching AGI is debatable, some experts argue that this "singularity," as some call it, may never be achieved -- much less on a timeline that would make investors happy. As the FT points out, Safe Superintelligence's valuation ballooned from $5 billion to $30 billion since its launch last June. Over that time period, the concept of AGI has grown ever larger in the popular imagination as OpenAI CEO Sam Altman keeps teasing that OpenAI is on the precipice of achieving it -- even though he's done little to back up those claims. (By the way, it's worth recalling that Sutskever left OpenAI last summer after a failed coup to oust Altman.) On Safe Superintelligence's website, there is no explanation of what will set Sutskever's company apart from others looking to achieve similar goals. Instead, it speaks in familiar AI industry platitudes, boasting that it'll "approach safety and capabilities in tandem, as technical problems to be solved through revolutionary engineering and scientific breakthroughs" and "plan[s] to advance capabilities as fast as possible while making sure our safety always remains ahead." Maybe Sutskever's wildest predictions will come true, and he'll usher in a spectacularly powerful and perfectly risk-free superintelligence. But unless he can do it quickly, investors are sure to come knocking.

Safe Superintelligence, Ilya Sutskever's AI startup, is reportedly close to raising roughly $1B | TechCrunch

Safe Superintelligence, an AI startup founded by former OpenAI chief scientist Ilya Sutskever, could be close to raising more than $1 billion at a $30 billion valuation -- a higher valuation than reported just weeks ago. Bloomberg reports that VC firm Greenoaks Capital Partners is leading the deal and pledging to invest half a billion dollars. Should the terms of the round not change, the fundraising would bring Safe Superintelligence's total raised to roughly $2 billion. Sutskever is widely respected in the AI -- and wider tech -- industry. He's credited with contributing to major AI breakthroughs while at OpenAI, including the technical approach that made ChatGPT's development possible. Safe Superintelligence, which also counts ex-OpenAI researcher Daniel Levy and former Apple AI projects lead Daniel Gross among its founding team, has raised money from Sequoia Capital, Andreessen Horowitz, and DST Global. It isn't generating revenue yet, and doesn't intend to sell AI products in the near future.

OpenAI co-founder Sutskever's Startup Set to Raise $1 Billion: Reports

The company's mission is clear: to build a safe superintelligence. Ilya Sutskever, co-founder at OpenAI, is reportedly raising over $1 billion for his startup Safe Superintelligence Inc (SSI), which is valued at more than $30 billion, as reported by Bloomberg. The deal is being led by San Francisco-based venture capital firm Greenoaks Capital Partners, which is set to invest $500 million, according to the report. Greenoaks has previously invested in AI companies like Scale AI and Databricks. In September last year, Sutskever announced that the lab had raised $1 billion from NFDG, a16z, Sequoia Capital, DST Global, and SV Angel. The company, based in Palo Alto with offices in Tel Aviv, was launched in June last year. SSI is led by Sutskever, entrepreneur and investor Daniel Gross, and former OpenAI employee Daniel Levy. Gross previously co-founded AI startup Cue, which Apple acquired in 2013 for between $40 million and $60 million. SSI has established the world's first lab dedicated solely to developing safe superintelligence. The company's mission is clear: to build a safe superintelligence. "We 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," Sutskevar said. The company emphasised that safety and capabilities will be addressed simultaneously, as technical problems require revolutionary engineering and scientific breakthroughs. SSI aims to rapidly advance capabilities while ensuring that safety remains paramount. Discussing the unpredictable nature of AI reasoning at the NeurIPS 2024, Sutskever said as AI systems reason more, they become less predictable. He highlighted how advanced AI, like AlphaZero, already demonstrates unpredictability in areas such as chess. Sutskever predicted that artificial superintelligence will evolve to understand complex concepts with limited data and self-correct, reducing errors like hallucinations. He also noted that future AI systems will become truly agentic.

OpenAI Co-Founder Sutskever's Startup Is Fundraising at $30 Billion-Plus Valuation

OpenAI co-founder Ilya Sutskever is raising more than $1 billion for his startup at a valuation of over $30 billion, according to a person familiar with the matter -- vaulting the nascent venture into the ranks of the world's most valuable private technology companies. Greenoaks Capital Partners, a San Francisco-based venture capital firm, is leading the deal for the startup, Safe Superintelligence, and plans to invest $500 million, said the person, who asked not to be identified discussing private information. Greenoaks is also an investor in AI companies Scale AI and Databricks Inc.

Pre-product AI 'company' now valued at $30bn

Venture capitalists have always been happy to back pre-profit companies. Back in the halcyon ZIRP era, they became happy to finance pre-revenue companies. But at least even Juicero, Wag and the Fyre Festival had an actual product. OpenAI co-founder Ilya Sutskever is raising more than $1 billion for his start-up at a valuation of over $30 billion, according to a person familiar with the matter -- vaulting the nascent venture into the ranks of the world's most valuable private technology companies. Greenoaks Capital Partners, a San Francisco-based venture capital firm, is leading the deal for the start-up, Safe Superintelligence, and plans to invest $500 million, said the person, who asked not to be identified discussing private information. Greenoaks is also an investor in AI companies Scale AI and Databricks Inc. The round marks a significant valuation jump from the $5 billion that Sutskever's company was worth before, according to Reuters, which earlier reported some details of the new funding. The financing talks are ongoing and the details could still change. OK, so a jump from a $5bn valuation less than half a year ago to $30bn must mean that Safe Superintelligence has an absolutely killer product right? SSI focuses on developing safe AI systems. It isn't generating revenue yet and doesn't intend to sell AI products in the near future. "This company is special in that its first product will be the safe superintelligence, and it will not do anything else up until then," Sutskever told Bloomberg in June. "It will be fully insulated from the outside pressures of having to deal with a large and complicated product and having to be stuck in a competitive rat race." Here are some other things valued at about $30bn or less: United Airlines, Société Générale, Maersk, Pernod Ricard, Publicis, Commerzbank, Ryanair, Prudential, Vodafone, Legal & General, Pearson, Reddit, EQT, Martin Marietta, Tradeweb, Warner Bros, Estée Lauder . . . you probably get the drift by now.

Ex-OpenAI Chief Scientist Ilya Sutskever's AI Startup Valued At $30 Billion In Latest Funding Round: Report

Enter your email to get Benzinga's ultimate morning update: The PreMarket Activity Newsletter Ilya Sutskever, the co-founder and former chief scientist of OpenAI, is reportedly raising over $1 billion for his AI venture, Safe Superintelligence (SSI), pushing its valuation beyond $30 billion. What Happened: San Francisco-based venture capital firm Greenoaks Capital Partners is leading the funding round, committing $500 million, reported Bloomberg, citing a person familiar with the matter. The funding marks a significant leap from SSI's previous $5 billion valuation. However, the deal is still in negotiation and could be subject to changes. Subscribe to the Benzinga Tech Trends newsletter to get all the latest tech developments delivered to your inbox. Why It Matters: Sutskever had played a key role in OpenAI's leadership shake-up in 2023, which saw CEO Sam Altman briefly ousted before returning to the company. He co-founded SSI in June 2024, shortly after leaving OpenAI. In September 2024, SSI raised $1 billion from major venture capital firms, including Andreessen Horowitz and Sequoia Capital. Meanwhile, SoftBank Group is reportedly in talks to lead a new funding round for OpenAI, potentially raising $40 billion. This investment could value the ChatGPT creator at $300 billion, setting a record for a private company's funding. Elon Musk's xAI reached a $50 billion valuation in November 2024. Perplexity AI, supported by Jeff Bezos, raised $500 million in December, bringing its valuation to $9 billion. Last month, it was reported that Anthropic, backed by Google, is in talks to secure $2 billion, potentially valuing it at $60 billion. Photo Courtesy: Poetra.RH on Shutterstock.com Check out more of Benzinga's Consumer Tech coverage by following this link. Read Next: Apple's iPad Turns 15 Today: Here's A Throwback To When Steve Jobs Explained Called It The 'Third Category' After Phones And Notebooks Disclaimer: This content was partially produced with the help of Benzinga Neuro and was reviewed and published by Benzinga editors. Market News and Data brought to you by Benzinga APIs