Brains Over Brawn: Ilya Sutskever Sparks ‘Safe Superintelligence’ While Meta Makes a Power Move

In a dramatic leadership shakeup amid an intensifying global AI talent war, Ilya Sutskever—co-founder and former chief scientist of OpenAI—has stepped in as CEO of Safe Superintelligence (SSI), the $32 billion startup he launched in 2024. This move follows the departure of former CEO Daniel Gross, who was recruited by Meta to lead its AI products division. Sutskever’s appointment, announced on X, comes as Meta aggressively expands its AI ambitions, recently forming Meta Superintelligence Labs and investing billions to attract top researchers and engineers.

 

Key Highlights:

 

Daniel Gross exited SSI on June 29 to join Meta, prompting Sutskever to assume the CEO role and co-founder Daniel Levy to become president.

 

Meta attempted to acquire SSI earlier this year, but Sutskever declined, affirming the startup’s independence and focus on building safe superintelligent AI.

 

SSI, now valued at $32 billion, has raised over $3 billion and maintains a low public profile, with no commercial products yet but a singular focus on safe AI development.

 

Sutskever’s leadership signals renewed commitment to SSI’s mission, stating, “We have the compute, we have the team, and we know what to do. Together we will keep building safe superintelligence”.

 

Meta’s AI hiring spree also included high-profile recruits from Scale AI and GitHub, consolidating its push for superintelligent systems.

 

Outlook:

With Sutskever at the helm, SSI is expected to double down on its pursuit of safe superintelligent AI, resisting acquisition attempts and maintaining independence. The escalating talent war underscores the fierce competition shaping the future of artificial intelligence, with SSI and Meta now at the forefront of this next technological frontier.

 

Source: Times of India, Reuters, TechCrunch