--- title: "Scientist Who Said Neural Networks May Already Be Conscious Leaves OpenAI After Leading Coup Against Sam Altman" description: "Ilya Sutskever, OpenAI cofounder and chief scientist, is leaving the company after moving to oust CEO Sam Altman in November." date: "2024-05-15" modified: "2024-05-15" authors: - name: "Noor Al-Sibai" job_title: "Senior Staff Writer" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/nooralsibai" url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/ilya-sutskever-leaves-openai" categories: - "Artificial Intelligence" - "OpenAI" tags: - "ilya sutskever" - "OpenAI" - "sam altman" - "the digest" --- # Scientist Who Said Neural Networks May Already Be Conscious Leaves OpenAI After Leading Coup Against Sam Altman ![Ilya Sutskever, OpenAI cofounder and chief scientist, is leaving the company after moving to oust CEO Sam Altman in November.]() *Sam Altman (C), US entrepreneur, investor, programmer, and founder and CEO of artificial intelligence company OpenAI, and the company's co-founder and chief scientist Ilya Sutskever (R), speak together at Tel Aviv University in Tel Aviv on June 5, 2023. (Photo by JACK GUEZ / AFP) (Photo by JACK GUEZ/AFP via Getty Images) \Image: ACK GUEZ/AFP via Getty Images\* ## French Exit Ilya Sutskever, OpenAI's chief scientist and one of its original cofounders, is finally leaving the company after [moving to oust CEO Sam Altman]() in November. In a [blog post announcing the departure](), Altman said Sutskever is "easily one of the greatest minds of our generation" and that he would be replaced as chief scientist by company research director Jakub Pachocki. "Ilya and OpenAI are going to part ways," the CEO's statement to employees reads. "This is very sad to me." Back in November, [Sutskever led the charge]() among OpenAI's board in its ultimately failed effort to oust Altman over still-unspecified concerns about safety and direction. As the [*New York Times* notes]() in its reporting on his exit, the [chief scientist remained at the firm]() in the interim, but has not been back to work since that debacle. ## Strange Claims Beyond the Thanksgiving drama, Sutskever had made something of a name for himself in the AI world for outspoken musings about the field. In February 2022, the better part of a year before ChatGPT shook the world with its release, [he tweeted]() that "it may be that today's large neural networks are slightly conscious." Despite being [nearly-universally clowned upon]() for it, he never expounded upon that belief, nor has he deleted the tweet. More recently, [Sutskever's antics within the firm](), which included burning effigies and encouraging coworkers to "feel the AGI," were [on display in an *Atlantic* exposé]() about the inner workings of OpenAI. In Altman's statement to employees about the new departure, which took place just a day after the company released its new [talking and "seeing" version of ChatGPT](), the CEO said Sutskever would be working on something that is "personally meaningful," but declined to provide further details about what that could be. "I am forever grateful for what he did here and committed to finishing the mission we started together," Altman wrote of Sutskever. "I am happy that for so long I got to be close to such genuinely remarkable genius, and someone so focused on getting to the best future for humanity." **More on OpenAI exits:** [*OpenAI Safety Worker Quit Due to Losing Confidence Company "Would Behave Responsibly Around the Time of AGI"*]() ## 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]()