Nvidia commits $5 billion to former OpenAI researcher Ilya Sutskever’s AI startup

Nvidia just wrote a $5 billion check to a company that has zero products, zero revenue, and zero intention of changing either anytime soon. Safe Superintelligence Inc., the AI research lab founded by former OpenAI chief scientist Ilya Sutskever, has landed what might be the most striking single investment in the AI safety space to date. Nvidia’s equity stake not only delivers capital but also grants SSI access to the chipmaker’s next-generation Vera Rubin GPU platform. A startup built on saying no Sutskever founded SSI in June 2024 after his high-profile departure from OpenAI. He took over as CEO in July 2025. The company operates with a deliberately small team split between Palo Alto and Tel Aviv. Prior to the Nvidia deal, SSI had raised roughly $6 billion in total funding, with backing from Greenoaks Capital, Andreessen Horowitz, Sequoia, and Alphabet. The company’s valuation now sits at $32 billion, a staggering figure for an organization that explicitly refuses to build commercial products. Why Nvidia is playing kingmaker Alphabet had already partnered with SSI in April 2025. This also isn’t Nvidia’s first investment in SSI. The company had participated in prior funding rounds,...