Ilya Sutskever, a co-founder and chief scientist at OpenAI, has announced his departure from the artificial intelligence company. This move comes just a day after OpenAI unveiled its GPT-4o model and follows months of speculation about his role in the company. Sutskever played a key role in the brief ousting of OpenAI CEO Sam Altman last year.

Sutskever's Decision

Sutskever, who joined OpenAI in 2015, expressed admiration for the company's progress, calling it "miraculous." He expressed confidence in OpenAI's ability to develop safe and beneficial AI under its current leadership. In a recent post, he conveyed his belief that OpenAI is in good hands and will continue to grow under Altman's leadership.

Background on Sutskever's Tenure

During his decade-long tenure at OpenAI, Sutskever served as research director and was known for his research work at the University of Toronto and Google Brain lab. In November 2023, he was involved in an attempt to remove Altman as CEO, citing concerns that Altman's vision didn't align with safe AI development. However, this move was met with resistance from nearly 770 employees, who threatened to leave unless Altman was reinstated. Altman was eventually reinstated, and Sutskever expressed regret over his involvement in the attempt to remove him.

Succession and New Projects

OpenAI announced that Research Director Jakub Pachocki will succeed Sutskever. Pachocki has been instrumental in the development of the GPT-4 model and has been with OpenAI since 2017. Sutskever's departure is not an isolated incident, as ML Researcher Jane Leiki also announced her resignation.

After Altman's return, Sutskever was removed from the board, and discussions about his continued involvement at OpenAI were ongoing. In recent months, Sutskever has been largely absent from the public eye, leading to speculation about his role. His recent post marks his first public communication since December and reveals that he is currently working on an unnamed project of personal significance.

Sutskever's departure from OpenAI marks the end of an era, but his confidence in the company's current leadership and his new project suggest that he is looking forward to new challenges and opportunities.