Ilya Sutskever, the co-founder and chief scientist at OpenAI, has officially departed from the company. Sutskever, a former Google AI researcher, was one of the board members who voted to remove OpenAI CEO Sam Altman back in November. This decision led to a tumultuous period for the company, with staff threatening to leave en masse before Altman was eventually reinstated.
Altman confirmed Sutskever’s departure in a post on the social platform X. Following Altman’s return to OpenAI, Sutskever had been less visible within the company. Despite this, OpenAI recently unveiled an updated version of ChatGPT, capable of engaging in emotionally charged conversations, during an event where Sutskever was notably absent.
In his post announcing Sutskever’s departure, Altman praised Sutskever as a key figure in OpenAI’s success and expressed his gratitude for their time working together. Altman went on to announce that Jakub Pachocki, OpenAI’s research director, would be taking over as the company’s new chief scientist.
Sutskever also confirmed his departure in a post on X, hinting at future plans and expressing confidence in OpenAI’s ability to continue progressing towards safe and beneficial AGI under the current leadership team. Although Sutskever has not publicly discussed his role in Altman’s removal, he has expressed regret for his involvement in the board’s actions last year.
Throughout his career, Sutskever has been a trailblazer in the field of machine learning, working alongside pioneers like Geoffrey Hinton to develop groundbreaking AI technologies. He played a crucial role in the establishment of OpenAI in 2015, which later evolved to include a for-profit arm and secured investments from major companies.
With Sutskever’s departure, only one of the board members who voted to remove Altman remains at OpenAI. Adam D’Angelo, the CEO of Quora, stayed on as a director when Altman returned as CEO.
