- Safe Superintelligence (SSI), founded by ex-OpenAI co-founder Ilya Sutskever, raised $2 billion at a $32 billion valuation, backed by firms like Greenoaks with $500 million, despite having no product, as reported by the Financial Times.
- SSI aims to outpace rivals like OpenAI by developing advanced AI models, focusing on surpassing current large language model limitations, while remaining secretive about its innovative scaling methods.
Safe Superintelligence (SSI), a year-old AI startup founded by former OpenAI co-founder Ilya Sutskever, has secured $2 billion in funding at a $32 billion valuation, despite lacking a product, highlighting the intense investor enthusiasm for AI ventures led by prominent researchers, as reported by the Financial Times. Launched in June with Daniel Gross, previously Apple’s AI lead, and Daniel Levy, an AI researcher, SSI attracted major venture capital firms like Greenoaks, which contributed $500 million, alongside Lightspeed Venture Partners and Andreessen Horowitz, following a $1 billion raise at a $5 billion valuation in September. Operating from Palo Alto and Tel Aviv, SSI aims to develop AI models that surpass the capabilities of leading rivals like OpenAI, Anthropic, and Google, focusing on breakthroughs that could push AI beyond current large language models, which synthesize data but fall short of human intelligence.
Sutskever, who co-founded OpenAI and served as its chief scientist during the launch of transformative products like ChatGPT, left in May after an unsuccessful attempt to oust CEO Sam Altman, with his OpenAI team focused on AI alignment – ensuring superintelligent systems prioritize human interests – subsequently disbanded. SSI remains secretive about its methods, even to investors, but FT notes that sources close to the company indicate it is exploring innovative approaches to scaling and developing AI models, aiming for a leap toward systems capable of advanced reasoning and task execution. The broader AI investment landscape remains robust, undeterred by U.S. economic volatility, as evidenced by former OpenAI CTO Mira Murati’s Thinking Machines Lab, launched in February to enhance AI customizability and capability, reportedly seeking a comparable funding round. SSI’s ambitious valuation and funding reflect confidence in Sutskever’s vision to redefine AI’s frontiers, even as the company guards details about its path to outpace better-funded competitors in a rapidly evolving field.
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