Ilya Sutskever Named CEO of Safe Superintelligence After Meta Hires Daniel Gross Amid AI Talent War

On a humid Thursday in July, Ilya Sutskever posted a message that sent a ripple through Silicon Valley’s AI circles: “We have the compute, we have the team, and we know what to do. Together we will keep building safe superintelligence.” It was the kind of confident declaration you’d expect from a man now at the helm of one of the world’s most valuable AI startups—especially after a week of high-stakes poaching and billion-dollar power plays.

Sutskever, the cerebral co-founder of OpenAI and one of the architects behind the modern AI boom, is stepping in as CEO of Safe Superintelligence (SSI) after the abrupt exit of his co-founder and outgoing CEO, Daniel Gross. Gross’s last day was June 29, 2025, ending a tenure that saw SSI’s valuation rocket to $32 billion—all before the company had shipped a single product or even revealed a logo. The reason for the shakeup? Meta, Mark Zuckerberg’s tech behemoth, has been on a talent raid, and Gross is the latest trophy.

If you’re keeping score, here’s how the chessboard shifted: Meta tried to buy SSI outright earlier this year, dangling a $32 billion check. Sutskever said no. So Zuckerberg pivoted, hiring Gross along with his longtime collaborator, Nat Friedman, to join Meta’s newly minted Meta Superintelligence Labs (MSL). Alexandr Wang, fresh from a $14.3 billion Scale AI deal, is now chief AI officer at Meta, with Gross and Friedman expected to work closely with him.

For Sutskever, the move is both a test and an opportunity. He’s now CEO of a company that’s become a kind of Rorschach test for the AI industry’s ambitions and anxieties. SSI, founded in June 2024, has raised over $3 billion from heavyweights like Google, Nvidia, and Greenoaks Capital, but it’s kept its cards close—no public demos, no commercial products, just a singular focus on building “safe superintelligence”. Investors are betting on vision and pedigree over proof.

Sutskever’s philosophy is as uncompromising as it is ambitious. “We will pursue safe superintelligence in a straight shot, with one focus, one goal, and one product. We will do it through revolutionary breakthroughs,” he wrote recently. Unlike OpenAI or Anthropic, SSI isn’t chasing chatbots or enterprise contracts. It’s all-in on the moonshot: create superintelligent AI, but do it safely, whatever that ends up meaning, and however long it takes.

Of course, the timing of Gross’s departure raises eyebrows. If SSI is so close to a breakthrough, why would its CEO jump ship? The answer, at least in part, lies in Meta’s aggressive AI expansion. Zuckerberg has called superintelligent AI “a new era for humanity” and is spending whatever it takes to win. Meta’s new lab has already lured talent from OpenAI, DeepMind, and Anthropic, offering pay packages that reportedly reach $100 million for top researchers. In this climate, even the most mission-driven founders can be tempted—or pressured—to move.

Daniel Levy, another SSI co-founder, will now serve as president, while Sutskever takes direct control of the technical teams. The company’s independence, Sutskever insists, is non-negotiable. “You might have heard rumors of companies looking to acquire us. We are flattered by their attention but are focused on seeing our work through,” he told staff and investors.

What happens next? In the short term, SSI’s ability to retain talent and maintain momentum will be tested. The AI arms race is only accelerating, and Meta’s deep pockets and relentless hiring spree are reshaping the landscape. But Sutskever, for all his soft-spoken intensity, has a reputation for playing the long game. If SSI can deliver on its promise, it could redefine the field—and, perhaps, justify the faith (and billions) that investors have placed in a company that, for now, remains more promise than product.

Is it a gamble? Absolutely. But in the world of superintelligence, the stakes have never been higher—or the competition fiercer.