Ilya Sutskever snubbed Meta takeover and takes helm at Safe Superintelligence
News spotlight
- Daniel Gross exited SSI for top AI role at Meta
- Sutskever steps up as CEO, vows independence
- Meta attempt was rebuffed
Ilya Sutskever has taken the helm at Safe Superintelligence, taking over as CEO.
The OpenAI co-founder is also co-founder at Safe Superintelligence, which launched last year, and, now, following the departure of CEO Daniel Gross, who leaves for a job at Meta, Sutskever will take over the running of the company.
Gross, meanwhile, joined Meta to lead its advanced AI initiatives.
Safe Superintelligence aims, as its name suggests, to create a 'safe' human-aligned AI that is free from short-term commercial pressures.
Commercial pressures evidently also include being targeted for takeover, though Sutskever dismissed the possibility.
"You might have heard rumors of companies looking to acquire us," Ilya Sutskever said in a statement.
"We are flattered by their attention but are focused on seeing our work through.
"We have the compute, we have the team, and we know what to do. Together we will keep building safe superintelligence."
The would-be acquirer of SSI was also reported to be Meta, which has been splashing the cash to hire and acquire leading AI expertise. Media reports claimed Meta offered significant equity to lure him awayhas taken and also made an unsuccessful acquisition attempt for SSI.
