OpenAI Scientist Who Ousted Sam Altman Quits A Day After GPT-4o Launch

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As a researcher with a background in artificial intelligence and experience following the developments at OpenAI closely, I am saddened to see Ilya Sutskever leaving the company. Sutskever’s departure comes after months of speculation and turmoil, which culminated in his involvement in the ouster of Sam Altman last year.

Ilya Sutskever, OpenAI’s chief scientist and co-founder, has announced his departure from the artificial intelligence company following rumors about his position within the organization. Notably, Sutskever was instrumental in the removal of Sam Altman as OpenAI’s CEO last November 2022. This news surfaced on the heels of OpenAI presenting its latest model, GPT-4, to the public.

Who Replaces Sutskever at OpenAI?

Sutskever began working at OpenAI in its early stages in 2015, having been drawn by Elon Musk’s recruitment efforts. Throughout his ten-year career with OpenAI, he held the position of research director due to his renowned research background from the University of Toronto and Google Brain lab.

In a recent article on X, Sutskever was awed by OpenAI’s progress and called it remarkable. He exuded faith in OpenAI’s capacity to create AI that is not only safe but also advantageous with its present management at the helm.

For the past ten years, I’ve had the privilege of being part of OpenAI’s team. Witnessing the company’s remarkable growth has been an awe-inspiring experience. I firmly believe that under the guidance of Sam Altman, Greg Brockman, Mirza Muratovic, and now with new additions to the leadership team, OpenAI will create Artificial General Intelligence that is both safe and beneficial for humanity. However, it’s time for me to move on and explore other opportunities in the crypto world.

— Ilya Sutskever (@ilyasut) May 14, 2024

In November 2023, Sutskever, along with other members of OpenAI, attempted to remove CEO Sam Altman due to differing views on safe AI development. At that time, Sutskever expressed his concern that Altman’s vision didn’t align with their goals. Unfortunately, this action sparked controversy as around 770 employees considered resigning in support of Altman’s reinstatement. A week later, amidst the ensuing turmoil, OpenAI decided to bring Altman back into his leadership role at the company.

In the midst of the recent upheaval, I, Sutskever, expressed my disappointment over my role in Altman’s dismissal. OpenAI revealed on their blog that I will be replaced as Research Director by Jakub Pachocki starting Tuesday. Pachocki, who has been part of the OpenAI team since 2017, played a significant part in creating the advanced GPT-4 model.

As a researcher in the machine learning field, I’ve noticed some recent developments. Specifically, individuals from Sutskever’s team at OpenAI have been making a notable shift. Only an hour ago, ML Researcher Jane Leiki made her resignation public.

I resigned

— Jan Leike (@janleike) May 15, 2024

Removing Sutskever from the Board

Following Altman’s rejoining the organization in late November, he announced in a blog entry that Sutskever would no longer serve as a board member at OpenAI, but negotiations were underway concerning his future role within the company.

After the initial buzz surrounding Sutskever’s involvement with our crypto project subsided, there were rumors about his continued involvement in the company. I, as an investor, haven’t heard much from him since his last post on X in December, which was a repost from OpenAI.

In a recent discussion on topic X, Sutskever disclosed that he’s deeply involved in a personally meaningful project, which remains undisclosed as of now.

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2024-05-15 10:06