Ilya Sutskever, chief scientist and co-founder of OpenAI, has made the decision to quit the company founded by Sam Altman. The news was made on Tuesday by Ilya Sutskever in a post on X, formerly known as Twitter.
"I have decided to quit OpenAI after nearly ten years. Under the direction of @sama, @gdb, @miramurati, and now, under the outstanding research leadership of @merettm, I'm certain that OpenAI will develop AGI that is both safe and advantageous. The company's trajectory has been nothing short of amazing, Ilya Sutskever stated.
Working with the OpenAI colleagues was a "honour and a privilege," Ilya Sutskever continued. I'm going to really miss everyone. I'll end now and appreciate everything. He continued, "I am looking forward to what comes next—a project that is very meaningful to me personally and about which I will share details in due time."
Sam Altman told Ilya Sutskever farewell in a post on X after his announcement, referring to the former as “one of the greatest minds of our generation, a guiding light and a dear friend”. His warmth and compassion are less generally recognized but no less significant than his genius and vision. Without him, OpenAI would not exist as it does now. I will always be appreciative of what he accomplished here, and although though he is heading off to focus on something personally important, I promise to see through the task we began together. I'm glad I had the opportunity to spend so much time with someone who was genuinely brilliant and so committed to securing the best possible future for humanity. Altman penned.
In addition, the CEO of OpenAI declared that Jakub Pachocki will take Sutskever's position as the company's new head scientist.
I'm glad Jakub is taking over here because he is undoubtedly one of the brightest minds of our time. He remarked, "I am very confident he will lead us to make rapid and safe progress towards our mission of ensuring that AGI benefits everyone." He has managed several of our most significant projects.
Sutskever left OpenAI more than five months after the company's CEO, Sam Altman, was ousted by the board of directors in November of last year amid a leadership crisis.
Sutskever allegedly took part in the attempt to fire Altman but thereafter signed a letter to the staff requesting his return. Soon after Altman rejoined ChatGPT, the board that had dismissed him was nearly completely removed, including Ilya, following an employee uprising.
More than five months after Sam Altman, the company's CEO, was fired by the board of directors in November of last year due to a leadership problem, Sutskever departed OpenAI. Sutskever allegedly participated in the effort to have Altman fired, although he later signed a letter asking for his restoration to the staff. After an employee revolt, the board that had fired Altman was almost all replaced, including Ilya, not long after he returned to ChatGPT.
Sutskever's second career path involved a brief postdoctoral fellowship at Stanford University under Andrew Ng, after which he returned to the University of Toronto to work for Hinton's research group's business, DNNResearch.
