Safe Superintelligence (SSI), co-founded by former OpenAI chief scientist Ilya Sutskever, has secured $1 billion in funding to advance the development of AI systems that surpass human capabilities while maintaining safety. SSI plans to use the funds to acquire computing resources and hire top-tier talent, focusing on building a trusted team of researchers and engineers split between Palo Alto, California, and Tel Aviv, Israel.
While the company did not disclose its valuation, sources close to the matter estimate it at $5 billion. The substantial investment in SSI highlights how some venture capitalists continue to place significant bets on high-caliber talent focused on foundational AI research, despite a broader market slowdown for such ventures.
Notable investors in the funding round include Andreessen Horowitz, Sequoia Capital, DST Global, and SV Angel, as well as NFDG, an investment partnership led by Nat Friedman and SSI’s CEO Daniel Gross. “It’s important for us to be surrounded by investors who understand, respect, and support our mission, which is to make a straight shot to safe superintelligence and in particular to spend a couple of years doing R&D on our product before bringing it to market,” Gross shared in an interview.
AI safety—ensuring AI does not cause harm to humanity—remains a pressing topic, especially amid fears that advanced AI could act against human interests. A California bill aiming to regulate AI safety has divided the industry, with companies like OpenAI and Google opposing it, while Anthropic and Elon Musk’s xAI support the measure.
Ilya Sutskever, 37, co-founded SSI in June alongside Gross, who previously led AI initiatives at Apple, and Daniel Levy, a former OpenAI researcher. Sutskever serves as chief scientist, while Levy is principal scientist, and Gross handles computing power and fundraising.
Sutskever’s decision to leave OpenAI followed his involvement in the controversial ousting of OpenAI CEO Sam Altman. After initially supporting the decision, Sutskever reversed course and joined the majority of OpenAI employees in demanding Altman’s reinstatement. This turn of events led to Sutskever’s diminished role at OpenAI, eventually leading to his departure in May.
Following his exit, OpenAI dismantled the “Superalignment” team that Sutskever led, which aimed to ensure AI remains aligned with human values as it grows more powerful. Unlike OpenAI’s unique corporate structure, SSI operates as a for-profit company and is focused on building a team that fits its culture. Gross emphasized that the company prioritizes hiring individuals with “good character” and extraordinary capabilities, rather than focusing solely on credentials.
SSI is currently exploring partnerships with cloud providers and chip companies to support its computing needs but has not yet finalized any agreements. Sutskever, known for his early advocacy of the “scaling hypothesis”—the idea that AI performance improves with increased computing power—plans to take a different approach to scaling at SSI, though he has not provided specifics. “Everyone just says scaling hypothesis. Everyone neglects to ask, what are we scaling?” he remarked. “Some people can work really long hours and they’ll just go down the same path faster. It’s not so much our style. But if you do something different, then it becomes possible for you to do something special.”
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