OpenAI Chief Scientist Ilya Sutskever to Depart, Jakub Pachocki Named Successor

Ilya Sutskever, co-founder and Chief Scientist of OpenAI, is leaving the artificial intelligence company, concluding months of speculation about the future of the influential AI researcher.

Sutskever played a key role in the brief ouster of CEO Sam Altman last year. OpenAI announced on its blog Tuesday that Research Director Jakub Pachocki will succeed Sutskever.

In a post on X, Sutskever described OpenAI’s journey as “miraculous” and expressed confidence in the company’s ability to develop AI that is “both safe and beneficial” under its current leadership.

Sutskever’s nearly decade-long tenure at OpenAI has been eventful. He joined the company as its research director in 2015 after being recruited by Elon Musk. Prior to OpenAI, Sutskever was renowned for his work on neural networks at the University of Toronto and the Google Brain lab. Sutskever even officiated the wedding of President Greg Brockman at the company’s offices.

Last year, Sutskever was among the board members who decided to fire CEO Sam Altman, triggering a tumultuous five days at the company. Brockman resigned in protest, investors were outraged, and nearly all of OpenAI’s 770 employees signed a letter threatening to quit unless Altman was reinstated. Amid the chaos, Sutskever expressed regret for his role in Altman’s ouster, and the CEO was soon reinstated.

After Altman returned in late November, he noted in a blog post that Sutskever would not resume his position as a board member, but the company was discussing other ways for him to continue his work at OpenAI. In the following months, Sutskever largely withdrew from public view, fueling speculation about his role at the company.

Sutskever’s post on X Tuesday was his first since reposting an OpenAI message in December. At a press conference in March, Altman expressed his admiration for Sutskever, saying, “I hope we work together for the rest of our careers.”

On X, Altman praised Sutskever as “one of the greatest minds of our generation, a guiding light of our field, and a dear friend.”

Sutskever revealed he is working on a new, personally meaningful project, the details of which remain undisclosed.

Jakub Pachocki, OpenAI’s new chief scientist, has been with the company since 2017 and led the development of the GPT-4 AI model.