OpenAI Co-founder Ilya Sutskever is raising more than $1 billion for his new startup, Safe Superintelligence (SSI), at over $30 billion valuation. This would put the nascent company in the global top private tech companies by value, a source with knowledge of the matter said.

San Francisco-based Greenoaks Capital Partners is taking the lead on the investment round with a pledge of $500 million. Greenoaks, which has invested in AI companies like Scale AI and Databricks Inc., is joined by earlier investors such as Sequoia Capital and Andreessen Horowitz. The company was formerly valued at $5 billion, Reuters reported. Although funding talks are still taking place, terms could be adjusted.

Sutskever, who played a pivotal role in OpenAI’s advancements as its Chief Scientist, left the company in May 2024. A month later, he co-founded SSI alongside Daniel Gross, a former AI leader at Apple, and Daniel Levy, an ex-OpenAI researcher.

SSI’s mission is to develop safe AI systems, distinguishing itself by not generating revenue or selling AI products in the near future. “This company is special in that its first product will be the safe superintelligence, and it will not do anything else up until then”, Sutskever stated in a Bloomberg interview in June. He emphasized that SSI would remain insulated from market pressures and competition.

Sutskever made headlines in 2023 for being part of the leadership drama at OpenAI, when he played a role in CEO Sam Altman's short-lived removal and then helped in his reinstatement. His newest endeavor highlights increasing focus on the safety of AI as artificial intelligence technologies are progressing rapidly.