Welcome back!! Let’s dive in.

It feels like the wheels are coming off at OpenAI with regard to the safety there. From Musk and his lawsuits to internal developers speaking out, many questions are being raised. Now, Ilya Sutskever, co-founder and former chief scientist of OpenAI, is starting a company focused on the safety of AI. Interesting times all around.

In other news, Altman says OpenAI may move to a for-profit model, Nvidia is now the world’s most valuable company, the Supreme Court may be replaced by AI (not really, but AI in legal is an interesting space to watch), McDonald’s pulled the plug on AI (for now) and some interesting studies in the medical space are going on in relation to Parkinson’s.

In this edition:

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Alex Smola has been the director of machine learning at Amazon Web Services since 2016. His work focuses on machine learning, statistical data analysis, computer vision, deep learning and NLP to design tools for data scientists.  Alex is an author for over 200 papers, edited five books and guided many PhD students and researchers. His primary interests are in deep learning, scalability of algorithms, statistical modelling and applications in document analysis, user modelling and many more. 

In a significant development for the AI industry, Ilya Sutskever, co-founder and former chief scientist of OpenAI, has announced the formation of a new startup named Safe Superintelligence Inc. (SSI). Along with Daniel Gross, a former AI lead at Apple, and Daniel Levy, a former engineer at OpenAI, Sutskever aims to create a safe and powerful AI system with a singular focus on safety and capabilities.

SSI’s mission is straightforward yet ambitious: to develop a superintelligent AI system that is both safe and beneficial. The company is dedicated to advancing AI capabilities while ensuring that safety remains paramount. This dual approach is intended to prevent the distractions often caused by management overhead or product cycles, allowing the company to focus purely on its primary goal.

The founding team of SSI brings together a wealth of experience and expertise. Daniel Gross, who has a background with Apple and Y Combinator, and Daniel Levy, who has extensive engineering experience at OpenAI, join Sutskever in this venture. Their departure from OpenAI followed a controversial period, including an attempt to oust OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and concerns over AI safety processes.

SSI is actively recruiting top technical talent with offices in Palo Alto, California, and Tel Aviv, Israel. This dual-location strategy leverages the deep talent pools in both regions, ensuring access to some of the best engineers and researchers in the field.

Sutskever has long been an advocate for AI safety, emphasizing the need for rigorous measures to control and restrict superintelligent AI. He predicts that AI with intelligence superior to humans could arrive within the decade, and he stresses the importance of research into ways to manage these advanced systems. The formation of SSI comes amid broader concerns about AI safety across the tech industry, with prominent figures like Elon Musk and Vitalik Buterin also expressing apprehensions about the risks associated with advanced AI systems.

SSI’s initial product will be a superintelligent AI system developed with safety at its core. The company plans to focus exclusively on this goal until it is achieved. Although the specifics of SSI’s funding and valuation remain undisclosed, co-founder Daniel Gross expressed confidence that raising capital will not be an issue, given the current interest in AI and the strong credentials of the team.

The launch of Safe Superintelligence Inc. marks a significant step in the ongoing quest for safe and powerful AI systems. With a clear focus on safety and capability development, SSI aims to address one of the most critical challenges of our time. The combined expertise of Sutskever, Gross, and Levy, along with their strategic approach, positions SSI to potentially make significant contributions to the field of AI safety.

As SSI begins its journey, the broader tech community will be watching closely to see how it navigates the complexities of developing superintelligent AI systems. The success of SSI could have far-reaching implications for the future of AI and its role in society.

The formation of Safe Superintelligence Inc. is a bold and necessary move in the rapidly evolving field of AI. With the potential to develop systems that surpass human intelligence, the importance of ensuring these technologies are safe cannot be overstated. SSI’s dedicated approach to integrating safety and capabilities from the outset sets a new standard for the industry. As we look to the future, the work being done by Sutskever and his team will undoubtedly shape the trajectory of AI development, balancing innovation with the essential safeguards needed to protect humanity.