Ilya Sutskever is leaving OpenAI: 10 points on the man behind Sam Altman’s ouster

OpenAI co-founder Ilya Sutskever announced his departure after almost a decade at the startup. On X (formerly Twitter), he said that OpenAI’s “trajectory has been nothing short of miraculous” while sharing his decision to exit. He wrote, “After almost a decade, I have made the decision to leave OpenAI. The company’s trajectory has been nothing short of miraculous, and I’m confident that OpenAI will build AGI that is both safe and beneficial under the leadership of @sama, @gdb, @miramurati and now, under the excellent research leadership of @merettm.”

He added that it was an “honour and a privilege” to work with the OpenAI colleagues, saying, “I will miss everyone dearly. So long, and thanks for everything. I am excited for what comes next — a project that is very personally meaningful to me about which I will share details in due time.”

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Read more: OpenAI’s Sam Altman on what surprises him about GPT-4o: ‘It is like AI from the movies’

Here are top points on Ilya Sutskever who is leaving OpenAI:

1. Ilya Sutskever sat on the board that voted to remove CEO and fellow co-founder Sam Altman in November last year. 
2. Following the ousting, the OpenAI board hiring Sam Altman back a few days later after a rebellion by staff and investors.
3. After this, Ilya Sutskever’s position on the board was not renewed although he remained in his position at OpenAI.
4. At the time, Ilya Sutskever issued a public apology for his role and said, “I deeply regret my participation in the board’s actions. I never intended to harm OpenAI. I love everything we’ve built together and I will do everything I can to reunite the company.” Read more: OpenAI creators say this is the secret behind success of ChatGPT: ‘Humans feel…’
5. Ilya Sutskever’s position at OpenAI will be filled by Jakub Pachocki, previously the company’s director of research.
6. Ilya Sutskever has played a defining role in OpenAI’s rise. 
7. In 2019, Sam Altman, Ilya Sutskever and Greg Brockman jointly formed OpenAI LP.
8. On Ilya Sutskever’s departure, Sam Altman said, “I am forever grateful for what he did here and committed to finishing the mission we started together.”
9. The announcement of the exit comes after OpenAI released a higher performing and even more human-like version of the artificial intelligence technology that underpins ChatGPT. 
10. The new mode, GPT-4o, will be rolled out in OpenAI’s products over the next few weeks.

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