OpenAI Co-founder Ilya Sutskever’s AI startup Safe Superintelligence (SSI) in talks to raise $2B at $30B valuation

OpenAI co-founder Ilya Sutskever’s AI startup, Safe Superintelligence (SSI), is reportedly in talks to raise over $2 billion at a valuation topping $30 billion, according to the Wall Street Journal.

This follows earlier reports from February suggesting SSI was targeting a $20 billion valuation. That figure now appears to have been underestimated. Bloomberg also reported that venture capital firm Greenoaks Capital Partners is leading the deal and plans to invest $500 million.

“AI researcher Ilya Sutskever is the primary reason venture capitalists are putting some $2 billion into his secretive company Safe Superintelligence, out of offices in Silicon Valley and Tel Aviv,” The Wall Street Journal reported.

Sutskever, who left OpenAI in May 2024, shared SSI’s mission at the time: “We will pursue safe superintelligence with a singular focus on one goal and one product.” Though SSI has yet to generate revenue, its focus on building AI systems smarter than humans—while ensuring they align with human interests—has attracted strong investor interest.

The company initially raised $1 billion at a $5 billion valuation, largely based on Sutskever’s standing as a key figure in OpenAI’s development. If the latest funding round closes, SSI’s valuation will have grown sixfold in just a few months.

SSI Global Expansion and Key Hires

SSI operates out of Silicon Valley and Tel Aviv, expanding its team and leasing new office space. The company recently secured offices in Midtown Tel Aviv, though it hasn’t announced who will lead operations there.

One notable hire is Dr. Yair Carmon, a senior lecturer in Tel Aviv University’s Faculty of Computer Science. Carmon earned his PhD from Stanford University in 2020, following degrees from the Technion – Israel Institute of Technology.

The initial funding round was backed by Sequoia Capital, Andreessen Horowitz, and DST Global, the investment firm of billionaire Yuri Milner.

Despite the hype, SSI hasn’t revealed any technology or products. Its public focus has been on hiring, especially for its Tel Aviv center. Sutskever has emphasized SSI’s mission to build AI models that exceed human intelligence while maintaining alignment with human values—a stance that hints at possible philosophical differences with OpenAI CEO Sam Altman.

SSI: New and Totally Different Direction For Advancing AI

SSI’s growth strategy also sets it apart. The startup has told investors it plans to “scale in peace,” focusing on long-term progress rather than short-term commercial gains. This is in contrast to OpenAI, which shifted from a nonprofit to a commercial business after ChatGPT’s unexpected success in 2022. OpenAI reported nearly $4 billion in revenue last year and expects $11.6 billion this year.

Sutskever’s approach reflects lessons from his time at OpenAI. He was an early advocate for scaling AI through massive computing power and data, a strategy that led to breakthroughs like ChatGPT. However, as the availability of high-quality training data shrank, Sutskever shifted focus to the inference stage—where AI models generate outputs—and helped drive OpenAI’s progress in reasoning models.

SSI’s leadership team includes Daniel Gross, former head of AI at Apple, and Daniel Levy, a former OpenAI researcher. The company has kept details about its methods and roadmap limited. Sutskever once described SSI’s path as “a new mountain to climb” but hasn’t offered much more publicly.

Sutskever’s departure from OpenAI came after a tense period that saw the removal of CEO Sam Altman. Sutskever later expressed regret for his involvement, posting on X, “I never intended to harm OpenAI. I love everything we’ve built together, and I will do everything I can to reunite the company.”

Meanwhile, investment in AI startups remains strong. OpenAI is in talks to double its valuation to $300 billion, and Anthropic is nearing a $60 billion valuation. Yet, competition is heating up. Chinese AI firm DeepSeek recently introduced open-source models that rival U.S. counterparts at a fraction of the cost, contributing to a $600 billion drop in Nvidia’s market cap in January.

Despite these shifts, major tech companies continue to pour funds into AI development, as reflected in their latest earnings reports.