Ilya Sutskever, co-founder of OpenAI, secures $1 billion in funding for his new AI company.

• Ilya Sutskever, co-founder of OpenAI, secured $1 billion in funding for his new AI company, Safe Superintelligence (SSI).
• Investors included A16, Sequoia, DST Global and SV Angel.
• OpenAI's chief scientist, Sutskever, co-led the company's Superalignment team with Jan Leike, who also left in May to join rival AI firm Anthropic.

Ilya Sutskever, co-founder of OpenAI and who left the company in May, has secured $1 billion in funding from investors for his new AI company, Safe Superintelligence (SSI).

The company announced on X that investors such as Andreessen Horowitz, Sequoia Capital, DST Global, SV Angel, and NFDG, an investment partnership co-run by SSI executive Daniel Gross, have invested in the company.

Sutskever announced a new venture in May, stating that they would pursue safe superintelligence with a single focus, goal, and product.

OpenAI's chief scientist, Sutskever, co-led the company's Superalignment team with Jan Leike, who also left in May to join rival AI firm Anthropic. After their departures, OpenAI disbanded the team, just one year after it was announced. Some of the team members were reassigned to other teams within the company, a source familiar with the situation told CNBC at the time.

At the time of the post, Leike claimed that OpenAI's focus on "shiny products" had led to a diminished emphasis on safety culture and processes.

Sutskever founded SSI with Daniel Gross, who led Apple's AI and search initiatives, and former OpenAI employee Daniel Levy. The company has offices in Palo Alto, California, and Tel Aviv, Israel.

"Our mission, name, and product roadmap are all centered on SSI because it is our sole focus. This allows us to remain undistracted by management overhead and product cycles, and our business model ensures that safety, security, and progress are not impacted by short-term commercial pressures."

In November, Sutskever was among the OpenAI board members who temporarily removed co-founder and CEO Sam Altman from his position.

In November, OpenAI's board stated that Altman had not been "consistently truthful in his interactions with the board." The situation became more complicated as reports emerged from The Wall Street Journal and other media outlets, revealing that Sutskever had been concentrating on ensuring that AI would not harm humans, while others, including Altman, were more focused on accelerating the release of new technology.

An open letter signed by almost all of OpenAI's employees was released, stating their intention to leave the company following the board's decision. However, days later, Altman returned to the company.

Before his quick reinstatement, Sutskever publicly apologized for his role in the ordeal following Altman's sudden ouster.

"Sutskever expressed regret for his involvement in the board's decisions on X on Nov. 20, stating that he never intended to cause harm to OpenAI. He expressed his love for the company and pledged to work towards reuniting it."