Ilya Sutskever’s Safe Superintelligence expands in Tel Aviv amid $20 billion funding talks
The AI startup has moved into new offices and is hiring engineers, though its technology remains under wraps.
Ilya Sutskever’s secretive artificial intelligence startup, Safe Superintelligence, is continuing to expand its team in Tel Aviv, hiring engineers and recently relocating to new offices. The company, which is reportedly in talks to raise capital at a $20 billion valuation, has leased office space in Midtown Tel Aviv, a skyscraper in the city center. Safe Superintelligence, which also has offices in Silicon Valley, has yet to announce who will lead its Tel Aviv operations.
Sutskever, who served as OpenAI’s chief scientist and played a key role in its breakthroughs, left the company in May 2024. Shortly after, he announced the launch of Safe Superintelligence. The company has already raised $1 billion at a $5 billion valuation, largely based on Sutskever’s reputation as the scientific force behind OpenAI’s advancements. If the latest funding round materializes, it would mark a fourfold increase in valuation within just a few months.
Sutskever, who immigrated to Israel as a child before moving to Canada for university, co-founded Safe Superintelligence with Daniel Levy and Daniel Gross. The initial funding round was led by Silicon Valley powerhouses Sequoia Capital and Andreessen Horowitz, along with DST Global, the investment firm of billionaire Yuri Milner.
Despite its soaring valuation, the company has yet to unveil any technology or products. So far, it has only announced hiring efforts, including for its Tel Aviv development center. According to Sutskever, Safe Superintelligence aims to build AI models that surpass human intelligence while remaining aligned with human interests. This statement hints at potential philosophical differences with OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, particularly regarding the risks and boundaries of advanced AI development.
