Safe Superintelligence

OpenAI co-founder raises one billion dollars for super AI

The new AI start-up Safe Superintelligence (SSI) from OpenAI co-founder Ilya Sutskever has raised one billion dollars in capital from investors. The aim is to develop a safe artificial intelligence that far surpasses human capabilities, Safe Superintelligence announced on Wednesday. 

According to insiders, the company, which is just three months old and has ten employees, is now valued at five billion dollars. Investors reportedly include venture capitalists Andreessen Horowitz and Sequoia Capital. "It is important for us to be surrounded by investors who understand, respect and support our mission," said SSI CEO Daniel Gross in an interview.

It consists of spending several years on research and development before the planned superintelligence is brought to market. Initially, he will concentrate on hiring top developers and securing computing power for AI training.

Concerns about loss of control
OpenAI and other companies are working on so-called Artificial General Intelligence (AGI), which can act largely independently of human intervention. The security of this technology is an important issue in the industry. Critics warn that such AI could get out of control and put people at risk. OpenAI developers also pointed out the risks last year.

Key role in the dismissal of OpenAI CEO Altman
The former head of Apple's AI division, Gross, launched SSI together with Sutskever in June, shortly after Sutskever left the chatGPT developer OpenAI. Sutskever had played a key role in the dismissal and reinstatement of OpenAI CEO Sam Altman last November. Following Altman's return, he was dismissed from the company's board of directors.