OpenAI founder Sutskever sets up new AI company devoted to “safe superintelligence”
UNB
Publish: 21 Jun 2024, 03:57 PM
The
Associated Press (AP) - Ilya Sutskever, one of the founders of OpenAI who was
involved in a failed effort to push out CEO Sam Altman, said he's starting a
safety-focused artificial intelligence company.
Sutskever, a respected
AI researcher who left the ChatGPT maker last month, said in a social media
post Wednesday that he's created Safe Superintelligence Inc. with two
co-founders. The company's only goal and focus is safely developing
"superintelligence" - a reference to AI systems that are smarter than
humans.
The company vowed not to
be distracted by "management overhead or product cycles," and under
its business model, work on safety and security would be "insulated from
short-term commercial pressures," Sutskever and his co-founders Daniel
Gross and Daniel Levy said in a prepared statement.
The three said Safe
Superintelligence is an American company with roots in Palo Alto, California,
and Tel Aviv, "where we have deep roots and the ability to recruit top
technical talent."
Sutskever was part of a
group that made an unsuccessful attempt last year to oust Altman. The boardroom
shakeup, which Sutskever later said he regretted, also led to a period of
internal turmoil centered on whether leaders at OpenAI were prioritizing
business opportunities over AI safety.
At OpenAI, Sutskever
jointly led a team focused on safely developing better-than-human AI known as
artificial general intelligence, or AGI. When he left OpenAI, he said that he
had plans for a "very personally meaningful" project, but offered no
details.
Sutskever said that it
was his choice to leave OpenAI.
Days after his
departure, his team co-leader Jan Leike also resigned and leveled criticism at
OpenAI for letting safety "take a backseat to shiny products." OpenAI
later announced the formation of a safety and security committee, but it's been
filled mainly with company insiders.
End/UNB/AP/HM