Former OpenAI co-founder raises $1 billion for safety-focused firm while the ChatGPT maker prioritizes shiny products and is on the cusp of bankruptcy
OpenAI’s safety-focused rival firm raised $1 billion from investors to focus on building safe superintelligence.
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What you need to know
After dedicating a decade of his life to OpenAI, co-founder and Chief Scientist Ilya Sutskever announced that he wasdeparting from the firm to focus on a project that was “personally meaningful.“In June,Sutskever debuted Safe Superintelligence Inc., a new company whose mission is to build safe superintelligence.
As you may know,multiple OpenAI staffers have left the firm, citing safety concerns and alleging thatthe company prioritizes shiny products as safety processes take a backseat. Building on this premise,the ChatGPT maker reportedly sent invitations to GPT-4o’s launch before testing took place, pressuring the safety team to scheme through the entire process to meet the assigned deadline in under one week.
As it happens, Sutskever’s Safe Superintelligence firm is enjoying significant success from the bat. According to a report byReuters, the scientist recently managed to raise $1 billion for the new startup to further its safety advances from multiple investors, including Andreessen Horowitz, Sequoia Capital, NFDG, and more.
OpenAI continues to languish in multiple issues
Recently, we reported thatOpenAI was on the brink of bankruptcy within the next 12 months, with projections of $5 billion in losses. The firm reportedly spends $7 billion on training its AI models and $1.5 billion on staffing but generates approximately $3.5 billion in revenue.
As it happens,the ChatGPT maker might get an extended lifeline from Apple, Microsoft, and NVIDIA through another round of fundingprojected to push its market capitalization well beyond $100 billion. This happens as investors in the AI landscape have startedraising concerns over exorbitant expenditures on AI projectsthat seemingly struggle to generate notable profits amid claims thatAI is a fadandthat 30% of its projects will be abandoned by 2025 after proof of concept.
We already knowOpenAI spends over $700,000 daily to keep ChatGPT running, not accounting for the funds allocated to AI’s outrageous power and cooling water demands.
Elsewhere, OpenAI and Microsoft are wrapped up inmultiple lawsuits over copyright infringement. However, Sam Altman arguescopyright law doesn’t prohibit the use of copyrighted content to train AI modelsand admitsit’s impossible to create tools like ChatGPT without it.
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Elon Musk, who helped confound OpenAI,recently filed a lawsuit against the ChatGPT maker and Sam Altman again, citing a stark betrayal of its founding mission and alleged racketeering activities.
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Kevin Okemwa is a seasoned tech journalist based in Nairobi, Kenya with lots of experience covering the latest trends and developments in the industry at Windows Central. With a passion for innovation and a keen eye for detail, he has written for leading publications such as OnMSFT, MakeUseOf, and Windows Report, providing insightful analysis and breaking news on everything revolving around the Microsoft ecosystem. You’ll also catch him occasionally contributing at iMore about Apple and AI. While AFK and not busy following the ever-emerging trends in tech, you can find him exploring the world or listening to music.
