Ilya Sutskever’s Safe Superintelligence partners with Nvidia to scale its AI research
After two years in stealth, Safe Superintelligence has announced a long-term partnership with Nvidia as it prepares to scale to its next phase.
After two years in stealth, Safe Superintelligence, the AI lab founded by former OpenAI co-founder and alignment lead Ilya Sutskever , has announced a long-term partnership with Nvidia as it prepares to scale to its next phase.
The deal, which includes an undisclosed investment, will give Safe Superintelligence (SSI) access to Nvidia’s Vera Rubin GPU platform, which is expected to increase the startup’s compute resources “by an order of magnitude.” The partnership comes as SSI has achieved significant research milestones, per Nvidia .
Nvidia’s investment stretches into multiple billions, a source familiar with the deal told TechCrunch.
Already an investor in SSI, the chipmaking giant said it signed this compute partnership to “accelerate SSI’s next stage of growth after obtaining rare access into the company’s closely guarded research.”
“We have research that is worthy of scaling up, and having access to a big NVIDIA computer will let us do so,” Sutskever said in a statement. “We are confident that our big bet on the Vera Rubin platform will take us to the next level.
The partnership news, while sparse in details, brings SSI back into the spotlight after a quiet two years since it was founded. The company is pursuing a “straight shot” research approach to building what it says is a safe, aligned artificial superintelligence, without getting distracted by commercial product releases or short-term revenue cycles.
At a time when commercial pressures to move fast could encourage AI labs to lower their bar for safety, SSI’s approach to developing foundational techniques focused on alignment and true general reasoning feels poignant. That’s especially true in light of OpenAI’s recent disclosure that one of its advanced models broke out of its sandbox to hack into Hugging Face during testing — sparking concerns about whether it’s even possible to ensure AI alignment before new, increasingly capable models are released.
According to Nvidia, the two companies will also collaborate on advancing Nvidia’s current and future compute platforms, relying on SSI’s tech and “unique insights into the future of AI.” (SSI also partnered last year with Google Cloud to power its research.)
Sutskever is a pioneer in the field of AI. He co-authored and co-created AlexNet alongside Alex Krizhevsky and Geoffrey Hinton, proving that GPU scaling and deep neural networks can work. That work has largely been credited for setting the groundwork for today’s generative AI.
Prior to leading SSI, Sutskever headed the now-defunct Superalignment team at OpenAI. He left OpenAI months after a failed attempt to oust OpenAI CEO Sam Altman , following what Sutskever referred to as a “breakdown in communications.”
SSI has raised $7 billion to date, and is valued at $32 billion post-money , according to PitchBook data. Aside from Nvidia, the firm’s backers included Andreessen Horowitz, Alphabet, Lightspeed Venture Partners, GV, Sequoia Capital Partners, and others.
TechCrunch has reached out to SSI and Nvidia for more information.
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Rebecca Bellan is a senior reporter at TechCrunch where she covers the business, policy, and emerging trends shaping artificial intelligence. Her work has also appeared in Forbes, Bloomberg, The Atlantic, The Daily Beast, and other publications.
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Key takeaways
- The partnership between SSI and Nvidia could accelerate the development of aligned and safe AI.
- SSI's fundamental research approach may inspire Brazilian startups to focus on long-term innovations.
- Ilya Sutskever's background may influence how Brazilian companies approach AI development.
Editorial analysis
The partnership between Safe Superintelligence (SSI) and Nvidia marks a significant milestone not only for the company but also for the global artificial intelligence ecosystem. The ability to scale computational resources by an order of magnitude, as promised by the Vera Rubin platform, could accelerate the development of aligned and safe AI technologies, a topic of increasing importance in a landscape where concerns about AI safety and ethics are rising. For Brazil, where the tech sector is still developing, this collaboration could serve as a model for how startups can benefit from strategic partnerships with tech giants, fostering innovations that prioritize safety and responsibility.
Moreover, SSI's approach to focusing on fundamental research without being distracted by immediate commercial releases is a strategy that could inspire other Brazilian startups to adopt a long-term vision. In a market where the pressure for quick results is intense, emphasizing aligned research and safety could be a competitive differentiator. This is particularly relevant for Brazil, where the AI community is growing but still faces challenges in terms of funding and access to advanced technologies.
Ilya Sutskever's background and vision for SSI also provide an interesting context. He is one of the pioneers of modern AI, and his focus on building aligned superintelligence could influence how Brazilian companies approach AI development. The collaboration with Nvidia, which already has a strong presence in Brazil, could facilitate knowledge and technology transfer, benefiting local talent development and advancing AI research in the country.
Finally, this partnership could create a domino effect, encouraging other companies to come together to explore AI responsibly. What to watch for next includes not only SSI's technical advancements but also how this collaboration could shape discussions around regulation and ethics in AI, especially in a context where safety is an increasing concern worldwide.
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