Feb. 18 (Bloomberg) -- OpenAI co-founder Ilya Sutskever is being valued at more than $30 billion (note: currently about Rs. 217.912 billion), according to Bloomberg, people familiar with the matter said for itsStartups Safe Superintelligence(hereinafter referred to as SSI) to raise more than $1 billion (currently about Rs. 7,264 million).SSI has become one of the most valuable privately held technology companies in the world.
San Francisco-based venture capital firm Greenoaks Capital Partners is leading the round, with plans to invest $500 million, people familiar with the matter said, adding that Greenoaks has previously invested in AI firms ScaleAI and Databricks.
As Reuters previously reported.SSI was previously valued at $5 billion, and this financing marks a significant jump in its valuation. Negotiations on financing are still ongoing and relevant details are still subject to change.
SSI has previously received financial backing from leading investment organizations such as Sequoia Capital and Andreessen Horowitz.
Suskov was a key figure in OpenAI's technology development, serving as the company's chief scientist. He left OpenAI in May 2024 and co-founded SSI a month later with Daniel Gross, a venture capitalist who worked on AI projects at Apple, and Daniel Levy, a former OpenAI researcher who focuses on the development of safe AI systems and has yet to generate revenue. The company is focused on developing safe AI systems, is not yet generating revenue, and has no plans to sell AI products in the near future.
"What makes this company special is that theIts first product will be a security superintelligence, and it won't do anything else until then." In a June interview with Bloomberg, Suscoffer said, "It will be completely insulated from outside pressures and won't get bogged down in complex product development and intense market competition."
It's worth noting that Suscoffer played a key role in the 2023 ouster of OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, but then helped bring Altman back to the company.