Former ChatGPT Executive Ilya Sutskever Expands Company in Israel

Ilya Sutskever, a prominent figure in artificial intelligence and former chief scientist at OpenAI, the company behind ChatGPT, is advancing his new company, Safe Superintelligence (SSI), by establishing a significant presence in Tel Aviv. The company has recently relocated to new offices in the Midtown Tel Aviv skyscraper and is actively recruiting engineers to join its growing team. 

Founded in mid-2024 after Sutskever’s departure from OpenAI, SSI has already secured $1 billion in initial funding, valuing the company at $5 billion. Reports indicate that the startup is currently in discussions to raise additional capital, potentially elevating its valuation to $20 billion—a fourfold increase within a few months. 

Sutskever, who immigrated to Israel as a child before moving to Canada for his university education, co-founded the company with Daniel Levy and Daniel Gross. The initial funding round attracted investments from notable Silicon Valley firms, including Sequoia Capital and Andreessen Horowitz, as well as DST Global, led by billionaire Yuri Milner. 

Despite its rapid financial growth, Safe Superintelligence has yet to publicly disclose specific details about its technological developments or product offerings. The company’s stated mission is to develop AI models that not only surpass human intelligence but also remain aligned with human values and interests. This focus suggests a commitment to ensuring that advancements in artificial intelligence are both innovative and ethically sound. 

The expansion into Tel Aviv underscores the city’s and the country’s growing importance as a hub for technological innovation and development. It seems that despite the war, things are still going well for the tech scene in Israel which is responsible for a large portion of the country’s GDP.