Ilya Sutskeber, one of the world's most famous artificial intelligence researchers
Ilya Sutskeber, a renowned figure in the field of artificial intelligence (AI), has revealed his plans to establish an AI startup following his departure from OpenAI. Previously serving as the chief scientist at OpenAI, Sutskeber made headlines last month when he was involved in the ousting of OpenAI CEO Sam Altman in November of the previous year. In an interview with Bloomberg on the 19th of the previous month, Sutskeber disclosed his intention to launch a startup named Safe Super Intelligence (SSI).
The Vision of Safe Super Intelligence
Safe Super Intelligence, the brainchild of Sutskeber, aims to develop AI technologies with intelligence surpassing that of humans, akin to the general-purpose artificial intelligence (AGI) pursued by OpenAI. However, SSI distinguishes itself by prioritizing the creation of AI that ensures the safety and well-being of humanity, with a strong emphasis on incorporating "safety" into its core mission.
Sutskeber expressed, "We aspire to establish a company dedicated solely to AI research, unconstrained by considerations of commercial products and profits." He further elaborated that the primary offering of the company will be 'Super Intelligence.' In contrast to competitors like OpenAI and Anthropic, who focus on developing profit-generating products, SSI will concentrate solely on research before unveiling "Super Intelligence" as its inaugural product.
Key Players in Safe Super Intelligence
Reports from Bloomberg indicate that Daniel Gross, a former partner at accelerator Wi-Combinator, and Daniel Levy, an engineer at OpenAI, have joined SSI as co-founders alongside Sutskeber. Both Sutskeber and Levy hail from Israel, with the company maintaining offices in Silicon Valley Palo Alto and Tel Aviv, Israel.
While Sutskeber did not disclose details regarding the startup's investors or its funding status, the involvement of accomplished individuals from diverse backgrounds underscores the innovative and collaborative nature of SSI.
Legacy and Contributions
Tracing his roots back to the University of Toronto under the mentorship of Professor Jeffrey Hinton, a prominent figure in the AI community, Sutskeber gained recognition as part of the Alexnet team. This team achieved significant milestones in 2012 by leveraging deep learning to revolutionize AI image recognition. Transitioning from his role at Google, Sutskeber co-founded OpenAI and played a pivotal role in developing an early model for GPT, a groundbreaking AI language model.
With a notable ranking as the third-most cited individual in the AI category on Google Scholar, following luminaries like Professor Jeffrey Hinton and Professor Yosuya Benzio, Sutskeber's journey exemplifies a relentless pursuit of AI innovation and advancement.
