OpenAI co-founder Ilya Sutskever is leaving the company

By Mike Murphy

OpenAI co-founder and chief scientist Ilya Sutskever is leaving the company, months after losing his board seat following an attempt to oust CEO Sam Altman.

"After almost a decade, I have made the decision to leave OpenAI," Sutskever tweeted late Tuesday. "I'm confident that OpenAI will build AGI that is both safe and beneficial" under current leadership. "I am excited for what comes next - a project that is very personally meaningful to me about which I will share details in due time."

The news comes a day after the Microsoft-backed artificial-intelligence startup unveiled its latest AI model, GPT-4o.

In a tweet Tuesday, Altman said Sutskever's departure "is very sad to me; Ilya is easily one of the greatest minds of our generation, a guiding light of our field, and a dear friend."

"OpenAI would not be what it is without him. Although he has something personally meaningful he is going to go work on, I am forever grateful for what he did here and committed to finishing the mission we started together," Altman said.

Altman said research director Jakub Pachocki will replace Sutskever as OpenAI's chief scientist.

In November, OpenAI's board briefly ousted Altman, saying they had lost confidence in his leadership. But he returned a week later after he was poised to join Microsoft, and following a staff revolt.

Under the terms of his return, Microsoft (MSFT) was given a non-voting seat on the board, which was reshuffled, with Sutskever - who at first supported Altman's ouster, then backtracked - losing his seat along with two independent directors.

"I harbor zero ill will towards him," Altman said at the time. "While Ilya will no longer serve on the board, we hope to continue our working relationship and are discussing how he can continue his work at OpenAI."

Altman rejoined OpenAI's board in March, along with three new directors: Dr. Sue Desmond-Hellman, former CEO of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation; Nicole Seligman, a former Sony general counsel; and Instacart CEO Fidji Simo.

-Mike Murphy

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05-14-24 2118ET

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