OpenAI co-founder Ilya Sutskever says he’s moving into the CEO function at Secure Superintelligence, the AI startup he launched in 2024. In a put up on X, Sutskever confirmed Thursday that Daniel Gross, the startup’s co-founder and CEO, departed the corporate as of June 29. Secure Superintelligence co-founder Daniel Levy is turning into president of the startup, in keeping with Sutskever.
The announcement follows weeks of reporting that Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg was in superior talks to rent Gross, in addition to his longtime investing companion, former GitHub CEO Nat Friedman. At one level, Zuckerberg reportedly tried to accumulate all of Secure Superintelligence, a startup most not too long ago valued at $32 billion. Sutskever addressed these stories as nicely.
“You might need heard rumors of firms trying to purchase us. We’re flattered by their consideration however are centered on seeing our work by way of,” stated Sutskever. “We’ve got the compute, we have now the crew, and we all know what to do. Collectively we’ll maintain constructing secure superintelligence.”
Naturally, Gross’ departure might increase questions across the startup. If Secure Superintelligence was near its objective — absolutely a groundbreaking know-how, because it’s described — why would its co-founder go away to begin one thing new, seemingly at Meta?
Notably, Secure Superintelligence describes itself because the world’s “first straight-shot SSI lab,” that means the corporate has no different merchandise or ambitions outdoors of growing, nicely, secure superintelligence. That’s the identify, that’s the product, that’s its entire factor. Sutskever began Secure Superintelligence shortly after leaving OpenAI, the place he performed a job within the transient ousting of CEO Sam Altman.
In the meantime, it appears doubtless that Meta Superintelligence Labs will develop know-how that powers plenty of the corporate’s merchandise. In Zuckerberg’s memo saying the brand new unit, he referenced Meta’s experience in constructing and rising merchandise that attain billions of individuals, and cited the early wins Meta has had in AI wearables.
Which means Gross, who beforehand led AI groups at Apple after the iPhone maker acquired his startup, may have a extra acquainted function at Meta, ought to he be part of. Zuckerberg has additionally nabbed some prime researchers from OpenAI and Google DeepMind to fill out his new AI crew.
Nonetheless, Sutskever might have his palms full as Secure Superintelligence’s CEO. Whereas he’s held earlier high-ranking positions, corresponding to OpenAI’s chief scientist, the CEO function might include new challenges — corresponding to elevating new capital from traders and recruiting prime expertise. Sutskever notes in his put up that he’ll proceed to supervise Secure Superintelligence’s technical crew.
