In a move reminiscent of a soap opera plot twist, OpenAI’s co-founder and Chief Scientist, Ilya Sutskever, announced his departure on Tuesday, citing a personal project as his new focus. Stepping into his considerable shoes is researcher Jakub Pachocki, tasked with steering the AI behemoth into the future.
Sutskever’s exit follows the tumultuous saga of CEO Sam Altman’s brief ousting months ago, a drama sparked by concerns over AI safety. Altman’s rapid return to the helm, just five days later, was propelled by investor uproar, notably from tech titan Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT), and threats of mass exodus from OpenAI’s ranks. Sutskever himself expressed remorse over the attempted ousting.
In a social media farewell, Sutskever lauded OpenAI’s remarkable journey, expressing confidence in the company’s ability to forge safe and beneficial artificial general intelligence (AGI). As the head of OpenAI’s superalignment team, tasked with pushing the boundaries of AI intelligence, his departure leaves a significant void.
Coincidentally, Sutskever’s exit coincides with OpenAI’s unveiling of a souped-up ChatGPT tool capable of real-time responses to voice, images, and videos. This comes on the heels of the company’s explosive debut in late 2022 with the original ChatGPT, igniting a frenzied race among tech giants like Google, Meta Platforms Inc (NASDAQ:META), and Amazon.com Inc (NASDAQ:AMZN) to harness the power of AI.