Co-founder of OpenAI, Ilya Sutskever, resigns; Sam Altman announces new Chief Scientist

OpenAI co-founder and Chief Scientist, Ilya Sutskever, announced his departure on May 15th.

OpenAI co-founder Sam Altman stated, “Ilya and OpenAI will be parting ways. This is very sad for me. Ilya is undoubtedly one of the greatest thinkers of our generation, a guiding light in our field, and a dear friend. His talent and vision are widely recognized. His warmth and compassion, though less known, are equally important.

Without him, OpenAI would not be what it is today. While he has personal matters to attend to, I am forever grateful for everything he has done here and committed to fulfilling the mission we started together. I am grateful to have been close to such a truly exceptional genius and someone so dedicated to realizing the best possible future for humanity.

Jakub (Jakub Pachocki) will become our new Chief Scientist. Jakub is also easily one of the greatest thinkers of our generation. I am thrilled that he will be taking the baton here. He has led many of our most important projects, and I have great confidence that he will lead us towards rapid and safe progress in ensuring AGI benefits everyone.”

Sutskever’s departure comes after a split within the company. In November last year, the board of directors, including Ilya Sutskever, decided to resign Sam Altman due to perceived lack of transparency in communication. However, due to threats of collective resignations from OpenAI employees, Sam Altman returned and the board was restructured. It appears that Ilya Sutskever could not continue at OpenAI and chose to resign.

Ilya Sutskever
OpenAI
Sam Altman