Nvidia Backs Sutskever's Secretive AI Start-up with $5 Billion

Nvidia is investing $5 billion in Safe Superintelligence (SSI), an AI start-up founded by Ilya Sutskever, a former OpenAI co-founder and chief scientist. The investment will give SSI access to Nvidia's most advanced AI chips, allowing it to increase its computing power tenfold over the next year.

Sutskever was involved in a dramatic boardroom coup at OpenAI in November 2023, where he played a central role in firing Sam Altman as CEO. However, Altman was reinstated within days after hundreds of staff threatened to quit and investors rallied behind him.

Nvidia is also a major investor in OpenAI, having committed $30 billion earlier this year. Sutskever's departure from OpenAI has sparked concerns about the circular nature of these transactions, with some chip giants increasingly investing in companies they also supply.