Ilya Sutskever has stepped in as CEO of Safe Superintelligence Inc. after Daniel Gross’s sudden exit on June 29, 2025—timing that’s raising eyebrows given Meta’s recent failed acquisition bid and aggressive talent poaching attempts. The leadership shuffle comes as SSI sits pretty with a $32 billion valuation and zero products launched, which is either impressive or concerning depending on your perspective. Daniel Levy joins as President to streamline operations while Sutskever emphasizes that independence remains non-negotiable, though the drama surrounding this shift suggests there’s more brewing beneath the surface.
The drama unfolded when co-founder Daniel Gross, SSI’s original CEO, made his exit on June 29, 2025. Turns out, Meta didn’t just want Sutskever — they wanted the whole company. When their acquisition attempts failed, they did what any reasonable tech giant would do: they poached the CEO instead.
Sutskever, fresh from his OpenAI days where he made waves in artificial general intelligence, immediately sent a clear message to the industry’s consolidation hunters. Independence isn’t negotiable. The company will continue focusing on safe superintelligence development, not entertaining buyout offers from tech behemoths looking to add another trophy to their AI collections.
To solidify the new structure, Sutskever named Daniel Levy as SSI’s President, creating a streamlined executive team. The technical teams now report directly to Sutskever, maintaining what the company calls a “focused decision-making process” — corporate speak for “fewer meetings, more AI breakthroughs.”
The timing couldn’t be more intense. SSI has raised over $3 billion in under a year, with backing from Google, Nvidia, and top-tier venture capital firms. That’s some serious financial firepower for a company that hasn’t shipped a single product yet. The market’s confidence in the venture is reflected in SSI’s impressive $32 billion valuation as of April 2025. SSI was founded in 2024 and has quickly gained attention in the AI sector despite maintaining a low profile.
This leadership shift represents more than just musical chairs in Silicon Valley. It’s happening during the industry’s ongoing “AI talent war,” where companies are throwing money around like confetti at a New Year’s party. Meta’s aggressive recruitment strategies have intensified the competitive landscape, making Sutskever’s appointment a strategic power play. Much like Jensen Huang at NVIDIA who revolutionized specialized chip technology for AI workloads, Sutskever brings technical expertise that could transform SSI’s trajectory.
Sutskever’s public communications emphasized gratitude toward Gross while reinforcing SSI’s commitment to its core mission. The message was clear: external interest is flattering, but distractions from building safe superintelligence simply won’t be tolerated.
