Sutskever's exit follows a series of internal disputes at OpenAI, which began last November when he and CTO Mira Murati expressed concerns about Altman's behavior and the company's direction. The disagreement led to Altman's temporary removal by the previous board, a move that upset investors and employees, and threatened a potential stock sale. The majority of OpenAI employees, including Sutskever, threatened to quit unless Altman was reinstated.
Key takeaways:
- Ilya Sutskever, OpenAI’s longtime chief scientist and co-founder, has left the company, as announced by CEO Sam Altman.
- Jakub Pachocki, director of research at OpenAI, will replace Sutskever. It is unclear if Pachocki will also take over as head of OpenAI’s Superalignment team, which was previously led by Sutskever.
- Sutskever's departure follows a saga that began last November, where he and OpenAI CTO Mira Murati expressed concerns about Altman's behavior and the company's direction.
- The previous board's decision to dismiss Altman without notifying the majority of OpenAI’s workforce led to a significant number of employees, including Sutskever, pledging to quit unless Altman was reinstated.