--- title: "There’s Something Very Weird About This $30 Billion AI Startup by a Man Who Said Neural Networks May Already Be Conscious" description: "One of OpenAI's cofounders claimed three years ago that AI may be \"slightly conscious\" — and now, investors seem to be banking on that claim." date: "2025-02-24" modified: "2025-02-24" authors: - name: "Noor Al-Sibai" job_title: "Senior Staff Writer" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/nooralsibai" url: "https://futurism.com/ilya-sutskever-safe-superintelligence-product" categories: - "Artificial Intelligence" tags: - "agi" - "artificial superintelligence" - "ilya sutskever" - "OpenAI" --- # There’s Something Very Weird About This $30 Billion AI Startup by a Man Who Said Neural Networks May Already Be Conscious ![One of OpenAI's cofounders claimed three years ago that AI may be "slightly conscious" — and now, investors seem to be banking on that claim.]() *\Image: Getty / Futurism\* Three years ago, OpenAI cofounder and former chief scientist Ilya Sutskever raised eyebrows [when he declared]() that the era's most advanced neural networks might have already become "slightly conscious." That flair for hype is on full display at Sutskever's new venture, another AI outfit sporting the un-subtle name of "Safe Superintelligence." And if you were fretting that OpenAI's business model was [suffering from Alice-in-Wonderland logic](), Sutskever's new project will have you all the way through the looking glass. As the [*Financial Times* flags](), the company just raised another $1 billion, adding to previous investments from deep-pocketed investors at [Andreessen Horowitz and Sequoia Capital]() and bringing its [valuation up to $30 billion](). The wild thing? It's done all that — including attaining a valuation higher than Warner Bros, Nokia, or the Dow Chemical Company — without offering any product whatsoever. In fact, Sutskever has previously bragged, it will *never* offer a product — until, that is, it drops a fully-formed superintelligent AI at some unspecified point in the 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," the [erstwhile OpenAI-er told *Bloomberg*]() back when he first launched the operation. "It will be fully insulated from the outside pressures of having to deal with a large and complicated product and having to be stuck in a competitive rat race." It's not unusual, of course, for venture capitalists to [invest in companies that don't yet have products]() — but throwing billions at one whose sole purpose is to create something that might not even exist within our lifetimes is a stretch, even by VC standards. Despite Sutskever's amply-derided insistence to the contrary, there is little reason to believe that AI researchers are anywhere near creating artificial general intelligence (AGI), much less the type of system that surpasses human cognition. While the [timeline for reaching AGI]() is [debatable](), some experts argue that this "singularity," as some call it, [may *never* be achieved]() — much less on a timeline that would make investors happy. As the *FT* points out, Safe Superintelligence's valuation ballooned from [$5 billion]() to $30 billion since its launch last June. Over that time period, the concept of AGI has [grown ever larger]() in the popular imagination as OpenAI CEO Sam Altman [keeps teasing]() that [OpenAI is on the precipice of achieving it]() — even though he's done little to back up those claims. (By the way, it's worth recalling that [Sutskever left OpenAI last summer]() after a [failed coup]() to oust Altman.) On [Safe Superintelligence's website](), there is no explanation of what will set Sutskever's company apart from others looking to achieve similar goals. Instead, it speaks in familiar AI industry platitudes, boasting that it'll "approach safety and capabilities in tandem, as technical problems to be solved through revolutionary engineering and scientific breakthroughs" and "plan\[s\] to advance capabilities as fast as possible while making sure our safety always remains ahead." Maybe Sutskever's wildest predictions will come true, and he'll usher in a spectacularly powerful and perfectly risk-free superintelligence. But unless he can do it quickly, investors are sure to come knocking. **More on artificial "intelligence":** [*OpenAI Researchers Find That Even the Best AI Is "Unable To Solve the Majority" of Coding Problems*]() ## Author At Futurism, I've often been drawn to unpacking the narratives that underlie technological, scientific and medical progress, with a special interest in areas of conflict and ambiguity that end up setting agendas and steering the fates of both elites and the hoi polloi. I'm a committed generalist, but I often find myself returning to work involving NASA and the private space sector, the effects of AI on media and society, and the mechanics of the pharmaceutical industry, with a specific focus on the spread of GLP-1 drugs like Ozempic and Wegovy. Prior to Futurism, I worked for publications ranging from Media Matters and Truthdig to Raw Story and Bustle. I'm also the author of "Myspace Scene Queens," a 2024 title in Instar Books' acclaimed "Remember the Internet" series. My work at Futurism has been cited by outlets including the New Yorker, Slate, Nieman Lab, the Verge, the MIT Technology Review, the Sunday Times, and the Daily Beast. I grew up in North Carolina, attended the University of North Carolina at Asheville, and now live in Brooklyn, New York. In my free time, I'm an avid reader and music fan; you can probably find me at a local poetry reading, concert, underground rave, or DJ set. I'm the proud parent of an ineffable orange cat named Mee-Mow. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()