Sutskever, the OpenAI co-founder steps up as SSI’s new chief executive

Ilya Sutskever, the pioneering mind behind OpenAI’s Superalignment efforts, has officially become the chief executive of Safe Superintelligence (SSI), the startup he co‑founded just last year.

His move follows the departure of Daniel Gross, until recently SSI’s acting CEO, who was scooped up by Meta Platforms to lead its burgeoning AI products arm. In a post on the X platform, Sutskever revealed that Gross’ time with the startup has been “winding down,” adding that his last day was June 29. Sutskever also said that SSI co-founder Daniel Levy will now serve as president, and the company’s technical team will continue to report to Sutskever.

Sutskever says SSI to remain focused on building safe superintelligence

Meta’s interest in SSI went beyond hiring. Insiders say the social‑media titan also explored buying out the fledgling company outright, aiming to fold its advanced research into Meta Superintelligence Labs. Those overtures, however, were rebuffed by Sutskever and his team, who’ve insisted on preserving SSI’s independence.

“You might’ve heard rumours of offers to acquire us. We’re honoured but focused on finishing what we started,” Sutskever wrote on X.

“We have the compute, we have the team, and we know what to do. Together we will keep building safe superintelligence.”

Sutskever.

Last year, SSI secured a staggering US$1 billion in funding to push toward AI that safely surpasses human intellect.

Meta isn’t alone in dangling generous compensation to lure AI talent. Across Silicon Valley and beyond, tech giants are rolling out seven‑figure equity grants and hefty salaries to convince star players like Gross to jump ship.

In Gross’s case, Meta’s offer reportedly trumped SSI’s in‑house package, prompting his exit on June 29. Despite this blow, SSI’s co‑founder Daniel Levy has stepped in as president, and the core engineering squad continues reporting to Sutskever.

Firms are on a race to lead AI’s next wave

The scramble for top minds comes as companies jockey for position in what many see as the next computing revolution. Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg has spearheaded an AI hiring spree, including a US$14 billion investment in Scale AI that brought founder Alexandr Wang and several key engineers into its fold.

Meanwhile, setbacks with Meta’s Llama 4 model and the defection of leading researchers have spurred Zuckerberg to unify efforts under Meta Superintelligence Labs, now co‑headed by Wang and ex‑GitHub boss Nat Friedman.

Daniel Gross is not new to high‑stakes exits. His previous startup, Cue, was snapped up by Apple in 2013 for its predictive‑search tech, after which he took a director role overseeing machine learning there.

At Meta, he will apply those skills to accelerate AI products ranging from recommendation engines to generative models. Gross has yet to comment publicly on his departure from SSI.

For Sutskever, the switch to CEO cements his long‑term commitment to SSI’s mission. Having co‑founded OpenAI in 2015 and co‑led its Superalignment team, he’s seen both the promise and pitfalls of rapid AI progress. Under his direction, SSI aims to scale compute resources, refine safety protocols, and ultimately deliver systems that can reason and self‑improve beyond human capability.

With Gross now at Meta and Levy assuming the presidency of SSI, the two camps will continue competitive pursuits. Yet Sutskever’s public vow to keep SSI independent suggests a company confident in its path. As the AI talent war escalates, his dual role as chief scientist and CEO could prove pivotal in steering safe superintelligence toward reality.

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