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Ilya Sutskever, a former OpenAI executive and co-founder, now has a roughly $7 billion stake in the company. Photo by Benjamin Fanjoy\/Getty Images<\/p>\n\t\tIlya Sutskever, a former OpenAI executive and co-founder, now has a roughly $7 billion stake in the company. Photo by Benjamin Fanjoy\/Getty Images<\/p>\n
The relationship between Sam Altman<\/a> and Ilya Sutskever<\/a>, an OpenAI co-founder and the company\u2019s former chief scientist<\/a>, has long been tumultuous. Once considered close collaborators, the pair split in 2023 when Sutskever orchestrated Altman\u2019s brief ouster as CEO<\/a>.\u00a0He later reversed course and called for Altman\u2019s reinstatement, a move he described as a \u201cHail Mary\u201d during testimony yesterday (May 11) in the ongoing trial of Elon Musk<\/a>\u2019s lawsuit against OpenAI<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cI felt that had I not done this, the company would be destroyed<\/a>,\u201d Sutskever said of his decision to backtrack on the coup.<\/p>\n Altman, who was ultimately restored as OpenAI\u2019s CEO, now faces allegations from another co-founder, Musk. The trial in Oakland, Calif., stems from Musk\u2019s lawsuit claiming the company abandoned its original nonprofit mission in favor of profit-driven incentives. Closing arguments are expected later this week. Musk is seeking the removal of Altman and OpenAI president Greg Brockman<\/a>, along with the transfer of up to $180 billion in damages from OpenAI\u2019s for-profit arm to its nonprofit parent.<\/p>\n Founded more than a decade ago by Altman, Musk and a group of researchers, OpenAI quickly identified Sutskever as a key early hire. At the time, he was working at Google but left the company\u2014turning down a $6 million salary\u2014to join the fledgling startup, he confirmed in testimony. Musk has since described Sutskever\u2019s recruitment as \u201cthe linchpin<\/a>\u201d for OpenAI\u2019s success.<\/p>\n Born in Russia and raised in Israel, Sutskever later moved to Canada, where he studied under renowned A.I. researcher Geoffrey Hinton<\/a> at the University of Toronto. His work on AlexNet, a landmark neural network, helped him secure a role at Google in 2013. He stayed for two years before joining OpenAI as research director, eventually becoming chief scientist and a board member.<\/p>\n Early on, Sutskever was close with both Altman and Brockman\u2014he reportedly even officiated Brockman\u2019s 2019 wedding.<\/a> But tensions grew over time. During his testimony, Sutskever said that in the year leading up to the 2023 ouster, he began compiling evidence of what he saw as Altman\u2019s dishonesty. Such behavior was \u201cnot conducive to any grand goal<\/a>,\u201d including OpenAI\u2019s mission to safely achieve artificial general intelligence, he said.<\/p>\n On Nov. 17, 2023, Sutskever and other board members removed Altman as CEO. The fallout was immediate: Brockman resigned, Microsoft<\/a>, then OpenAI\u2019s largest investor, moved to hire Altman, and hundreds of employees threatened to quit. Sutskever later acknowledged the process \u201cseemed rushed<\/a>\u201d and signed a petition calling for Altman\u2019s return days later. In separate testimony, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella<\/a> described the episode as \u201camateur city<\/a>\u201d and said he was never given a clear explanation for Altman\u2019s firing.<\/p>\n During the chaotic five-day stretch, Sutskever said he avoided the internet and was largely unaware of unfolding developments, including Microsoft\u2019s plans to bring Altman on board. He also testified that OpenAI\u2019s board held talks with rival A.I. firm Anthropic<\/a> about a possible merger, though he said he was \u201cnot excited<\/a>\u201d by the idea.<\/p>\n After Altman\u2019s reinstatement, Sutskever was removed from OpenAI\u2019s board and left the company in May 2024. He went on to found Safe Superintelligence<\/a>, a secretive A.I. startup<\/a> focused on developing advanced systems safely, which was most recently valued at $32 billion in April last year.<\/p>\n Despite his departure, Sutskever retains a significant stake in OpenAI. His shares, valued at around $5 billion in November, are now worth roughly $7 billion, he said in testimony. Brockman, meanwhile, disclosed last week that his own stake is valued at about $30 billion.<\/p>\n