Ilya Sutskever, the chief scientist and co-founder of OpenAI, is departing the company, months after losing his position on the board due to an attempt to remove CEO Sam Altman.
Late on Tuesday, Sutskever tweeted, “I have decided to leave OpenAI after almost a decade.” Under the current leadership, “I’m confident that OpenAI will build AGI that is both safe and beneficial.” “I am eager to share details about a project that holds great personal significance for me, which I will unveil when the time is right.”
The announcement was made one day after the Microsoft-backed artificial intelligence startup debuted GPT-4o, its most recent model.
Sutskever’s passing, according to Altman, “is very sad to me; Ilya is easily one of the greatest minds of our generation, a guiding light of our field, and a dear friend.” Altman made this statement in a tweet on Tuesday.
Without him, OpenAI would not exist as it does today. “I am eternally grateful for what he did here and committed to finishing the mission we started together, even though he has something personally meaningful he is going to work on,” Altman remarked.
According to Altman, Jakub Pachocki, the research director, will take Sutskever’s place as OpenAI’s chief scientist.
The board of OpenAI temporarily removed Altman in November, citing a lack of trust in his ability to lead. But a week later, after a staff revolt and just before he was set to join Microsoft, he came back.
As part of his return, Microsoft MSFT, +0.69% was granted a non-voting seat on the board. The board then underwent a reorganisation, with Sutskever, who had initially backed Altman’s removal but later changed his mind, and two independent directors losing their positions.
“At the time, I have no animosity towards him,” Altman declared. “We hope to continue our working relationship and are discussing how Ilya can continue his work at OpenAI, even though he will no longer serve on the board.”
In March, Nicole Seligman, a former general counsel for Sony, Dr. Sue Desmond-Hellman, a former CEO of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, and Fidji Simo, the CEO of Instacart, joined Altman back on the OpenAI board.
