OpenAI co-founder Ilya Sutskever said on Tuesday that he is leaving the Microsoft-under startup support.
“I’m excited about what’s next – a project that has a lot of personal meaning for me that I’ll share details about in due course,” Sutskever wrote in a X post on Tuesday.
The departure comes months after OpenAI went through a leadership crisis involving co-founder and CEO Sam Altman.
In November, OpenAI’s board said in a statement that Altman had not been “consistently candid in his communications with the board.” The matter quickly became more complex. The Wall Street Journal and other media outlets reported that Sutskever trained his focus on ensuring that AI did not harm humans, while others, including Altman, were more eager to promote the delivery of new technology.
Almost all OpenAI employees signed an open letter saying they would quit in response to the board’s action. Days later, Altman returned to the company, and board members Helen Toner, Tasha McCauley and Sutskever, who had voted to oust Altman, were out. Adam D’Angelo, who had also voted for Altman, remained on the board.
When Altman was asked about Sutzkever’s situation in a Zoom called reporters at the time, said there were no updates to share. “I love Ilya … I hope we work together for the rest of our career, my career, whatever it is,” Altman said. “There is nothing to announce today.”
On Tuesday, Altman shared his thoughts on Sutzkever’s departure.
“This is very sad for me; Ilya is easily one of the greatest minds of our generation, a guiding light in our field, and a dear friend,” Altman wrote in X. “His brilliance and vision are well-known; his warmth and compassion are less well-known but no less important.” Altman said research director Jakub Pachocki, who has been at OpenAI since 2017, will replace Sutskever as chief scientist.
OpenAI announced new board members, including former Salesforce co-CEO Bret Taylor and former Treasury Secretary Larry Summers. Microsoft was given a non-voting observer seat on the board.
In March, OpenAI announced its new board of directors and the completion of an internal investigation by US law firm WilmerHale into the events that led to Altman’s ouster. Altman rejoined the OpenAI board, and three new board members were announced: Dr. Sue Desmond-Hellmann, former CEO of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. Nicole Seligman, former EVP and global general counsel of Sony and president of Sony Entertainment; and Fidji Simo, CEO and president of Instacart.
The three new members will “work closely with current board members Adam D’Angelo, Larry Summers and Bret Taylor as well as Greg, Sam and senior OpenAI executives,” according to a company announcement in March, citing the co-founder of OpenAI, Greg Brockman; .
News of Sutskever’s departure comes a day after OpenAI unveiled a new AI model and desktop version of ChatGPT, along with an updated user interface, the company’s latest effort to expand the use of its popular chatbot.
The update brings the GPT-4 model to everyone, including free OpenAI users, chief technology officer Mira Murati said Monday at a livestreamed event. He added that the new model, GPT-4o, is “much faster”, with improved text, video and audio capabilities.
OpenAI said it eventually plans to allow users to video chat with ChatGPT. “It’s the first time we’ve really taken a huge step forward in terms of ease of use,” Murati said.
In 2015, Altman et Tesla CEO Elon Musk, another co-founder of OpenAI, wanted Sutskever, then a researcher at Googleto become the nascent startup’s top scientist, according to the lawsuit Musk filed against OpenAI in March.
“Dr. Sutzkever debated whether he should leave Google and join the project, but it ended up being a call from Mr. Musk on the day OpenAI, Inc. went public. which convinced Dr. Sutzkever to commit to joining the project as Chief Scientist of OpenAI, Inc.,” the legal filing said.
Jan Leike, who co-led with Sutskever OpenAI’s Superalignment team, also said in X on Tuesday that he left the startup.
The team, was announced last year, it worked to achieve “scientific and technical breakthroughs to guide and control artificial intelligence systems much smarter than we are.” OpenAI has dedicated 20% of its computing power to the initiative for four years.