Ilya Sutskever Takes Helm at Safe Superintelligence Amid AI Talent War

Ilya Sutskever will lead Safe Superintelligence following his CEO's exit | TechCrunch

OpenAI co-founder Ilya Sutskever says he is stepping into the CEO role at Safe Superintelligence, the AI startup he launched in 2024. In a post on X , Sutskever confirmed Thursday that Daniel Gross, the startup's co-founder and CEO, departed the company as of June 29." Safe Superintelligence co-founder Daniel Levy is becoming president of the startup, according to Sutskever. The announcement follows weeks of reporting that Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg was in advanced talks to hire Gross, as well as his longtime investing partner, former GitHub CEO Nat Friedman. At one point, Zuckerberg reportedly attempted to acquired all of Safe Superintelligence, a startup most recently valued at $32 billion. Sutskever addressed those reports as well. "You might have heard rumors of companies looking to acquire us. We are flattered by their attention but are focused on seeing our work through," said Sutskever. "We have the compute, we have the team, and we know what to do. Together we will keep building safe superintelligence." That's quite a confident statement from Sutskever, but he may need to project as much to assure investors and talent that his startup is still on track. Naturally, Gross' departure may raise questions around the startup. If Safe Superintelligence was close to their goal -- surely a groundbreaking technology, as it's described -- why would its co-founder leave to start something new, seemingly at Meta? Notably, Safe Superintelligence describes themselves as the world's "first straight-shot SSI lab," meaning the company has no other products or ambitions outside of developing, well, safe superintelligence. That's the name, that's the product, that's their whole thing. Sutskever started Safe Superintelligence shortly after leaving OpenAI, where he played a role in the brief ousting of CEO Sam Altman. Meanwhile, it seems likely that Meta Superintelligence Labs will develop technology that powers lots of the company's products. In Zuckerberg's memo announcing the new unit, he referenced Meta's expertise in building and growing products that reach billions of people, and cited the early wins Meta has had in AI wearables. That means Gross could who previous led AI teams at Apple after the iPhone maker acquired his startup, could have a more familiar role at Meta, should he join. Zuckerberg has also nabbed some top researchers from OpenAI and Google DeepMind to fill out his new AI team. Nevertheless, Sutskever may have his hands full as Safe Superintelligence's CEO. While he's held previous high-ranking positions, such as OpenAI's chief scientist, the CEO role may come with new challenges -- such as raising new capital from investors and recruiting top talent. Sutskever notes in his post that he'll continue to oversee Safe Superintelligence's technical team.

Sutskever to lead Safe Superintelligence after Meta poaches CEO Gross in AI talent war

July 3 (Reuters) - Ilya Sutskever has taken over the reins of Safe Superintelligence (SSI), the artificial intelligence startup he launched last year, after losing CEO Daniel Gross to an intensifying talent war in the industry. Gross has joined Meta Platforms (META.O), opens new tab to lead its AI products division, sources told Reuters. The development comes as tech giants such as Meta Platforms (META.O), opens new tab aggressively chase high-profile acquisitions and offer multi-million-dollar pay packages to attract top talent in the race to lead the next wave of artificial intelligence. Meta had also attempted to recruit Ilya Sutskever and acquire SSI, sources familiar with the matter told Reuters. "You might have heard rumors of companies looking to acquire us. We are flattered by their attention but are focused on seeing our work through," Sutskever said in a post, opens new tab on X. SSI raised $1 billion in cash last year to build advanced AI systems designed to safely exceed human intelligence. Gross did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment. Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg has launched a new division, Meta Superintelligence Labs, to unify the company's AI efforts, following setbacks with its Llama 4 model and key staff departures. The unit will be led by former Scale AI CEO Alexandr Wang and ex-GitHub chief Nat Friedman, after Meta invested $14.3 billion in Scale and ramped up efforts to recruit top AI talent. Gross and Friedman are known to be close, having co-founded the venture capital firm NFDG -- named after their initials. The firm has backed high-profile startups including Safe Superintelligence, Perplexity and Figma. Apple acquired Gross's startup, Cue, in 2013 for its predictive search and AI technology, after which Gross joined the iPhone maker as a director, overseeing machine learning and artificial intelligence. Reporting by Akash Sriram in Bengaluru and Krystal Hu in New York; Editing by Shinjini Ganguli Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles., opens new tab Suggested Topics:Artificial Intelligence Krystal Hu Thomson Reuters Krystal reports on venture capital and startups for Reuters. She covers Silicon Valley and beyond through the lens of money and characters, with a focus on growth-stage startups, tech investments and AI. She has previously covered M&A for Reuters, breaking stories on Trump's SPAC and Elon Musk's Twitter financing. Previously, she reported on Amazon for Yahoo Finance, and her investigation of the company's retail practice was cited by lawmakers in Congress. Krystal started a career in journalism by writing about tech and politics in China. She has a master's degree from New York University, and enjoys a scoop of Matcha ice cream as much as getting a scoop at work.

Ilya Sutskever becomes CEO of Safe Superintelligence after Meta poached Daniel Gross

OpenAI co-founder Ilya Sutskever said he will assume the CEO role at Safe Superintelligence, the artificial intelligence startup he launched last year. Sutskever's announcement on Thursday comes after Meta poached Daniel Gross, a longtime entrepreneur and AI investor who had been CEO of Safe Superintelligence. In a post on X, Sutskever said Gross' time at the company has been "winding down," and that his last day was June 29. Safe Superintelligence co-founder Daniel Levy will now serve as president, and the company's technical team will continue to report to Sutskever, he said. Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg has been on a multibillion-dollar AI hiring spree, highlighted by a $14 billion investment in Scale AI that brought the startup's founder Alexandr Wang and a small group of his lead engineers to Meta. Zuckerberg announced a new organization on Monday called Meta Superintelligence Labs that's made up of top AI researchers and engineers. However, Gross' name was not listed among the new hires mentioned by Zuckerberg. Gross did not respond to CNBC's request for comment. During Zuckerberg's AI hiring blitz, Meta tried to acquire Safe Superintelligence, but Sutskever rebuffed those efforts, CNBC previously reported. Safe Superintelligence was reportedly valued at $32 billion in a fundraising round in April. Sutskever confirmed his plans on Thursday to keep running the company as an independent organization. "⁠You might have heard rumors of companies looking to acquire us. We are flattered by their attention but are focused on seeing our work through," Sutskever wrote. "We have the compute, we have the team, and we know what to do. Together we will keep building safe superintelligence." Sutskever previously served as OpenAI's chief scientist and co-led the company's Superalignment team with Jan Leike, who left to join rival AI firm Anthropic.

Ilya Sutskever Takes Over as CEO of Safe Superintelligence After Daniel Gross's Exit | AIM

"You might have heard rumours of companies looking to acquire us," he said. "We are flattered by their attention, but are focused on seeing our work through." Ilya Sutskever has officially taken over as CEO of Safe Superintelligence Inc. (SSI), following the departure of Daniel Gross from the company. Daniel Levy will serve as President, while the technical team continues to report to Sutskever. "As you know, Daniel Gross's time with us has been winding down, and as of June 29 he is officially no longer a part of SSI," Sutskever shared in a message to the company's team and investors. "We are grateful for his early contributions to the company and wish him well in his next endeavour." Previously, it was reported that Meta is in advanced talks to hire Gross to help lead its artificial intelligence efforts. SSI, which Sutskever launched in June last year alongside Gross and Levy after leaving OpenAI, is focused on building safe superintelligence. Despite rumours of possible acquisition talks, Sutskever confirmed that the company plans to remain independent. "You might have heard rumours of companies looking to acquire us," he said. "We are flattered by their attention, but are focused on seeing our work through." Meta reportedly made an acquisition offer for Safe Superintelligence (SSI), which was valued at around $32 billion during its recent fundraising. The offer was declined. Sutskever added, "We have the compute, we have the team, and we know what to do. Together we will keep building safe superintelligence." Safe Superintelligence was launched with the stated goal of prioritising safety and speed equally while developing advanced AI systems.

Sutskever to lead Safe Superintelligence after Meta poaches CEO Gross in AI talent war - The Economic Times

The development comes as tech giants such as Meta Platforms aggressively chase high-profile acquisitions and offer multi-million-dollar pay packages to attract top talent in the race to lead the next wave of artificial intelligence.Ilya Sutskever has taken over the reins of Safe Superintelligence (SSI), the artificial intelligence startup he launched last year, after losing CEO Daniel Gross to an intensifying talent war in the industry. Gross has joined Meta Platforms to lead its AI products division, sources told Reuters. The development comes as tech giants such as Meta Platforms aggressively chase high-profile acquisitions and offer multi-million-dollar pay packages to attract top talent in the race to lead the next wave of artificial intelligence. Meta had also attempted to recruit Ilya Sutskever and acquire SSI, sources familiar with the matter told Reuters. "You might have heard rumors of companies looking to acquire us. We are flattered by their attention but are focused on seeing our work through," Sutskever said in a post on X. SSI raised $1 billion in cash last year to build advanced AI systems designed to safely exceed human intelligence. Gross did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment. Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg has launched a new division, Meta Superintelligence Labs, to unify the company's AI efforts, following setbacks with its Llama 4 model and key staff departures. The unit will be led by former Scale AI CEO Alexandr Wang and ex-GitHub chief Nat Friedman, after Meta invested $14.3 billion in Scale and ramped up efforts to recruit top AI talent. Gross and Friedman are known to be close, having cofounded the venture capital firm NFDG - named after their initials. The firm has backed high-profile startups including Safe Superintelligence, Perplexity and Figma. Apple acquired Gross's startup, Cue, in 2013 for its predictive search and AI technology, after which Gross joined the iPhone maker as a director, overseeing machine learning and artificial intelligence.

Sutskever to lead Safe Superintelligence after Meta poaches CEO Gross in AI talent war

(Reuters) -Ilya Sutskever has taken over the reins of Safe Superintelligence (SSI), the artificial intelligence startup he launched last year, after losing CEO Daniel Gross to an intensifying talent war in the industry. Gross has joined Meta Platforms to lead its AI products division, sources told Reuters. The development comes as tech giants such as Meta Platforms aggressively chase high-profile acquisitions and offer multi-million-dollar pay packages to attract top talent in the race to lead the next wave of artificial intelligence. Meta had also attempted to recruit Ilya Sutskever and acquire SSI, sources familiar with the matter told Reuters. "You might have heard rumors of companies looking to acquire us. We are flattered by their attention but are focused on seeing our work through," Sutskever said in a post on X. SSI raised $1 billion in cash last year to build advanced AI systems designed to safely exceed human intelligence. Gross did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment. Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg has launched a new division, Meta Superintelligence Labs, to unify the company's AI efforts, following setbacks with its Llama 4 model and key staff departures. The unit will be led by former Scale AI CEO Alexandr Wang and ex-GitHub chief Nat Friedman, after Meta invested $14.3 billion in Scale and ramped up efforts to recruit top AI talent. Gross and Friedman are known to be close, having co-founded the venture capital firm NFDG -- named after their initials. The firm has backed high-profile startups including Safe Superintelligence, Perplexity and Figma. Apple acquired Gross's startup, Cue, in 2013 for its predictive search and AI technology, after which Gross joined the iPhone maker as a director, overseeing machine learning and artificial intelligence. (Reporting by Akash Sriram in Bengaluru and Krystal Hu in New York; Editing by Shinjini Ganguli)