In Short:
Ilya Sutskever, chief scientist at OpenAI, has left the company. He was one of the board members who voted to fire CEO Sam Altman, causing chaos. Altman confirmed Sutskever’s departure and announced Jakub Pachocki as the new chief scientist. Sutskever, a machine learning expert, has not detailed his role in Altman’s removal last year. He expressed regret and confidence in OpenAI’s future.
Ilya Sutskever Leaves OpenAI
Ilya Sutskever, co-founder and chief scientist at OpenAI, has departed from the organization. Sutskever, a former Google AI researcher, was one of the four board members who voted to remove OpenAI CEO Sam Altman in November. This decision led to internal turmoil, with staff considering mass resignations before Altman was reinstated.
Confirmation of Departure
Sam Altman confirmed Sutskever’s departure in a post on the social platform X. Following Altman’s return, Sutskever had limited public involvement with OpenAI. Notably, he was absent from the recent event where OpenAI showcased a new version of ChatGPT capable of engaging in emotionally charged conversations.
New Chief Scientist
Altman announced that Jakub Pachocki, OpenAI’s research director since 2017, would succeed Sutskever as the company’s new chief scientist. Altman expressed gratitude for Sutskever’s contributions to OpenAI’s success.
Sutskever’s Future Plans
In a post on X, Sutskever confirmed his departure and hinted at upcoming projects. He expressed confidence in OpenAI’s ability to develop Artificial General Intelligence (AGI) under current leadership and teased details about his next venture.
Contributions to AI Development
Sutskever, known for his work in machine learning, collaborated with industry pioneers like Geoffrey Hinton and played a key role in developing the image-recognition system AlexNet. He later joined Google, contributing to advancements in neural-network-based AI before co-founding OpenAI in 2015.
Remaining Board Members
Sutskever’s departure leaves Adam D’Angelo as the sole remaining board member who supported Altman’s removal. D’Angelo, CEO of Quora, stayed on the board when Altman resumed his role as CEO.
