In a stunning display of Silicon Valley’s “genius premium,” Safe Superintelligence (SSI)—a secretive AI startup with virtually no public products—has just secured a jaw-dropping $2 billion in funding at a $30 billion valuation. The investment world’s fascination? Not a groundbreaking product, but one brilliant mind: Ilya Sutskever.

When Sutskever, OpenAI’s co-founder and chief scientist, abruptly departed the company in May 2023, the AI world was left reeling. As the technical genius behind some of deep learning’s most foundational breakthroughs, his unexpected exit to start SSI triggered a feeding frenzy among top investors desperate not to miss out on “the next OpenAI.”

What makes SSI’s meteoric rise so remarkable is how little anyone actually knows about what they’re building. While other AI startups showcase demos and technical papers, SSI operates in near-total secrecy. The only clue? A name that suggests a focus on ensuring super intelligent AI systems remain safe and controlled—perhaps the tech world’s most existential challenge.

At $30 billion, SSI now rivals established AI powerhouses like Anthropic despite having no publicly available products or services. It’s a valuation that speaks volumes about both the skyrocketing stakes in the AI race and the extreme scarcity of world-class talent.

“In AI’s talent war, Sutskever is the equivalent of a nuclear scientist during the Manhattan Project,” notes one industry analyst. “Investors are essentially funding his vision of the future first and asking questions later.”