Ilya Sutskever, Co-Founder and Chief Scientist, Leaves OpenAI

OpenAI chief scientist and co-founder Ilya Sutskever is leaving the artificial intelligence company, a departure that ends months of speculation in Silicon Valley about the future of a prominent AI researcher who played a key role in Sam’s brief dismissal Altman last year.

Sutskever will be replaced by Research Director Jakub Pachocki, OpenAI said in its blog Tuesday.

In a post on X, Sutskever called OpenAI’s trajectory “miraculous” and said he is confident the company will build AI that is “safe and beneficial” under its current leadership.

Sutskever’s nearly decade-long tenure at OpenAI was dramatic. When OpenAI was founded in 2015, he served as director of research after being recruited by Elon Musk to join the company. At that time, Sutskever was already known in the field for his research on neural networks at the University of Toronto and for his work at the Google Brain laboratory.

A central figure in the company, Sutskever even officiated President Greg Brockman’s wedding at the OpenAI offices.

Sutskever’s departure comes after clashing with Altman over how quickly to develop AI, a technology that prominent scientists have warned could harm humanity if allowed to grow without built-in restrictions, for example on disinformation. Jan Leike, another OpenAI veteran who co-led the so-called superalignment team with Sutskever, also resigned. Leike’s responsibilities included exploring ways to limit the potential harms of AI.

Last year, Sutskever was one of several OpenAI board members who decided to fire CEO Altman, a decision that set off a five-day turmoil at the company: Brockman resigned in protest. Investors revolted. And within days, nearly all of OpenAI’s approximately 770 employees signed a letter threatening to resign unless Altman was reinstated.

Adding to the chaos, Sutskever said he regretted his role in Altman’s ouster. Soon after, the CEO was reinstated.

After Altman returned to the company in late November, he said in a blog post that Sutskever would not return to his previous role as a board member, but that the company was “discussing how he could continue his work at OpenAI.”

In the following months, Sutskever largely disappeared from public view, sparking speculation about his continued role at the company. Sutskever’s X Tuesday post was the first time he shared anything on the social network since he reposted an OpenAI message in December.

Asked about Sutskever at a press conference in March, Altman said he loved him and believed Sutskever loved OpenAI, adding, “I hope we work together for the rest of our careers.”

In an X post on Tuesday, Altman wrote, “Ilya is easily one of the greatest minds of our generation, a guide in our field, and a dear friend.”

On X, Sutskever posted that he is working on an as-yet-unnamed project that is “very personally meaningful” to him.

The company’s new chief scientist, Pachocki, has worked at OpenAI since 2017. Pachocki led the development of the company’s GPT-4 AI model, OpenAI said.