Ilya Sutskever
Unicorn founderCo-founder & Chief Scientist at OpenAI · Co-founder & CEO at Safe Superintelligence
Palo Alto, CA
About
Ilya Sutskever co-authored AlexNet in 2012, the paper that started the deep-learning era, and co-founded OpenAI in 2015 as Chief Scientist, driving the GPT line. He was on the board that fired Sam Altman in November 2023 and publicly regretted it, left in 2024, and founded Safe Superintelligence, which raised billions at a multi-billion valuation with no product. He studied under Geoffrey Hinton at Toronto.
Co-founder & Chief Scientist at OpenAI
Intro paths
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In turn, Ilya can intro founders to OpenAI's investors below.
OpenAI's investors · 61
A.Capital VenturesSan FranciscoA'Z AngelsLos GatosAdvent InternationalBoston · $1.1B checksAlpha Wave GlobalMiamiAltimeter CapitalMenlo Park · $1M – $25M checks · since 2026Andreessen HorowitzMenlo Park · $500K – $50M checksAntiSan Juan · $250K – $30M checksBedrockLos Angeles · $5M – $30M checksboldstart venturesMiami · $1M – $3M checksCoatue ManagementNew York · $1M – $20M checksCosmic Venture PartnersAustin · $100K – $5M checksDragoneer Investment GroupSan Francisco · $100K – $5M checks · since 2025Eastlink Capital PartnersMenlo Park · $100K – $5M checksEmerson Collective InvestingPalo Alto · $100K – $1M checksEverybody Ventures$100K checksFelicis VenturesSan Francisco · $500K – $15M checksFirestreak VenturesFounders FundSan Francisco · $500K – $5M checksFrontier VenturesCupertino · $100K – $5M checksGaldana VenturesBarcelonaGestio CapitalLondonGlynn Capital ManagementMenlo ParkGreylock PartnersSan Francisco · $100K – $200M checksHOF CapitalNew York · $25K – $15M checksICONIQSan FranciscoIneffable VenturesStamfordKaleida CapitalSan DiegoKhosla VenturesMenlo Park · $5K – $50M checksLakeside CapitalTampa · $100K – $250K checksMadrona Venture GroupSeattle · $2M – $10M checksMastrySan FranciscoMaverick VenturesSan Francisco · $3M – $10M checksMech VenturesLas VegasMGXAbu Dhabi · since 2025Next Legacy PartnersPortola ValleyNVIDIASanta ClaraOssian CapitalPeter ThielRiverbend CapitalWashingtonRosecliff VenturesNew York City · $500K checksSanctor CapitalNew YorkSequoia CapitalMenlo Park · $4.4M – $214M checksSGH CapitalParisSoftBank GroupTokyoSoftBank Vision FundLondonSoma CapitalSacramento · $100K – $300K checksSound VenturesSanta MonicaSparkLabs KoreaPalo AltoSquareOne CapitalMiamiStack CapitalTorontoStandard CapitalSan FranciscoSV AngelSan FranciscoT. Rowe PriceBaltimore · since 2025Thrive CapitalNew York · $500K – $25M checks · since 2025Touring CapitalSan FranciscoType One VenturesLos Angeles · $100K – $5M checksValkyrie Ventures Management, LlcPark CityVU Venture PartnersSan Francisco · $200K – $1M checksWAGMI VenturesWealthUnion$10K checksXYZ Venture CapitalSan Francisco · $10K – $5M checks
Co-founders at OpenAI
SA
Sam AltmanCo-founder & CEO
EM
Elon MuskCo-founder & former Co-chair / board member
GB
Greg BrockmanCo-founder & President
WZ
Wojciech ZarembaCo-founder
JS
John SchulmanCo-founder (departed 2024)
AK
Andrej KarpathyCo-founder
TB
Trevor BlackwellCo-founder
VC
Vicki CheungCo-founder
Co-founder & CEO at Safe Superintelligence
Intro paths
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In turn, Ilya can intro founders to Safe Superintelligence's investors below.
Safe Superintelligence's investors · 7
AlphabetMountain View · since 2026Andreessen HorowitzMenlo Park · $500K – $50M checks · since 2025DST GlobalGeorge Town, Grand Cayman · $100K – $200M checks · since 2025GreenoaksSan Francisco · $1M – $50M checks · since 2025Lightspeed Venture PartnersMenlo Park · $1.7M – $87M checks · since 2025NVIDIASanta Clara · since 2026Sequoia CapitalMenlo Park · $4.4M – $214M checks
Co-founders at Safe Superintelligence
DL
Daniel LevyFounder
Experience
- Safe Superintelligence IncCo-Founder and Chief Scientist at Safe Superintelligence Inccurrent2024 — present
- OpenAICo-Founder and Chief Scientist2018 — 2024
- OpenAICo-Founder and Research Director2016 — 2018
- GoogleResearch Scientist2013 — 2015
- DNNResearchCo-Founder2012 — 2013Toronto
- Stanford UniversityPostdoc2012
Education
- University of TorontoPhD, Computer science2005 — 2012
- University of TorontoBachelor's degree, Mathematics2002 — 2005
- The Open University of IsraelComputer Science2000 — 2002
Skills & more
Machine Learning39Neural Networks28Artificial Intelligence17
From Ilya's professional profile.
Frequently asked questions
- Where does Ilya Sutskever work?
- Ilya Sutskever is Co-founder & Chief Scientist at OpenAI and Co-founder & CEO at Safe Superintelligence.
- What companies did Ilya Sutskever found?
- Ilya Sutskever founded OpenAI, Safe Superintelligence.
Paths to reach Ilya
People who overlapped with Ilya at the same organization — a shared school or employer with one of them is a warm way in.
Together at OpenAIIlya: Co-founder & Chief Scientist
Sam Altman2016–2024Co-founder & CEO of OpenAI; former President of Y CombinatorJohn Burroughs School · Stanford UniversityElon Musk2016–2018Founder of SpaceX, Tesla CEO & xAI founderQueen's University · University of PennsylvaniaGreg Brockman2016–2024Co-founder & President of OpenAIHarvard University · Massachusetts Institute of TechnologyAravind Srinivas2018–2022Co-founder & CEO of Perplexity AIIndian Institute of Technology, Madras · University of California, BerkeleyDario Amodei2016–2020Co-founder & CEO of AnthropicCaltechDaniela Amodei2018–2020Co-founder & President of AnthropicUniversity of California, Santa Cruz
Together at Safe Superintelligence IncIlya: Co-Founder and Chief Scientist at Safe Superintelligence Inc
Together at Stanford UniversityIlya: Postdoc
Ann Miura-Ko2012Co-founding Partner at FloodgatePalo Alto High SchoolBalaji Srinivasan2012Angel investor and founder of The Network SchoolMartin Casado2012General Partner at Andreessen HorowitzNorthern Arizona UniversityAndy Fang2012Co-founder & CTO of DoorDashRyan Shea2012Co-founder of Blockstack (Stacks)Princeton University · Secaucus High School · Y CombinatorDario Amodei2012Co-founder & CEO of AnthropicCaltech
Founder mafias
Stanford University mafia894
Also came through, then founded or led a company.
Reid HoffmanB.S.Founded Manas AI +1Joe LonsdaleBSFounded Opto +3Mike Maples JrBSFounded Pattern BreakersSteve JurvetsonBSEEFounded Mojo VisionBalaji SrinivasanLecturer, Departments of Statistics and Computer ScienceFounded Counsyl +1Jess LeeBSFounded Polyvore
+ 887 more
University of Toronto mafia98
Also came through, then founded or led a company.
Jeffrey KarpPhDFounded Tissium +3Shvet JainMAScFounded Panther +1Kiran GolluM.Sc.Founded Oodle +1Alex LevyFounded Atmo +1Brad MenezesMechanical EngineeringFounded Superblocks +1Sohrab HaghighatDoctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.)Founded Hestus, Inc. +1
+ 91 more
OpenAI mafia62
Also came through, then founded or led a company.
Sam AltmanCo-founder & CEOFounded Tools for Humanity +2Elon MuskCo-founder & former Co-chair / board memberFounded Tesla +4Aravind SrinivasResearch ScientistFounded PerplexityDario AmodeiVP of ResearchFounded AnthropicDaniela AmodeiVP of People, then VP of Safety and PolicyFounded AnthropicSean GroveMember of Technical StaffFounded Linzumi +2
+ 55 more
Same school
Also attended University of Toronto324
Yasmin RazaviInvestor at Spark CapitalImran BashirFounding Partner, Chief Operating Officer at Extreme Venture PartnersKarim GillaniGeneral Partner at Luge CapitalAndrew MiklasGeneral Partner at Y CombinatorMike MontanoInvestor at True VenturesAlex KolicichInvestment Team at 8VC
+ 318 more
Also attended The Open University of Israel38
Rutie AdarInvestments & Innovation Sr. Director, Israel at Samsung Catalyst FundLidia VerraBookkeeper at TriventuresAdi GreenwaldAssociate at YL VenturesGad HuldaiGeneral Partner | First at PitangoOr GitPrincipal at Grove VenturesAriel AnatiPartner at Catalyst Investments, L.P.
+ 32 more
Shared employers
Also worked at Safe Superintelligence Inc1
Also worked at OpenAI125
Reid HoffmanCo-founder of LinkedIn; Partner at GreylockPat GradyPartner at Sequoia CapitalGreg BrockmanCo-founder & President of OpenAIAravind SrinivasCo-founder & CEO of Perplexity AIDario AmodeiCo-founder & CEO of AnthropicDaniela AmodeiCo-founder & President of Anthropic
+ 119 more
Also worked at Google1,582
Ron ConwayFounder of SV AngelElad GilSolo general partner investing through Gil CapitalKai-Fu LeeChairman of Sinovation Ventures and CEO of 01.AIBrian SingermanCo-founder of GPx; Partner Emeritus at Founders FundJess LeePartner and Chief Product Officer at Sequoia CapitalTomasz TunguzFounder & General Partner at Theory Ventures
+ 1,576 more
Also worked at Stanford University661
Ann Miura-KoCo-founding Partner at FloodgateBalaji SrinivasanAngel investor and founder of The Network SchoolMartin CasadoGeneral Partner at Andreessen HorowitzMike KriegerCo-founder of Instagram; Chief Product Officer at AnthropicAndy FangCo-founder & CTO of DoorDashRyan SheaCo-founder of Blockstack (Stacks)
+ 655 more