Ilya Sutskever’s AI startup, Safe Superintelligence (SSI), is in talks to raise funding at a valuation of at least $20 billion, according to four sources who spoke to Reuters. The company, founded just last year, previously raised $1 billion in September at a $5 billion valuation from investors such as Sequoia Capital, Andreessen Horowitz, and DST Global. The potential fundraising highlights the continued interest and high valuations in prominent AI ventures, even as the industry faces some reassessment prompted by the release of a low-cost AI model by Chinese startup DeepSeek.
SSI, based in Palo Alto and Tel Aviv, has not yet generated any revenue. However, it has stated its mission to develop safe superintelligence that surpasses human intelligence while remaining aligned with human interests.
Safe Superintelligence seeks $20B funding
The company’s leadership team includes Sutskever, who previously served as OpenAI’s chief scientist, Daniel Gross, former head of AI initiatives at Apple, and Daniel Levy, an ex-OpenAI researcher. Little is known about the secretive startup’s specific projects, but investor interest has been driven largely by Sutskever’s reputation and his team’s unique approach. Sutskever is widely regarded as a key figure in AI, having contributed to numerous breakthroughs that have fueled the current investment boom in generative AI.
The company is reportedly in preliminary discussions with both existing and potential new investors, but the exact amount SSI aims to raise remains undisclosed. SSI has not responded to requests for comment on the matter. The potential $20 billion valuation marks a significant increase from the company’s previous funding round and underscores the high expectations and confidence in SSI’s future contributions to AI technology, despite its lack of revenue or publicly known projects.
Photo by; RDNE Stock project on Pexels
