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OpenAI Co-founder Sutskever’s Startup SSI in Talks for $20 Billion Valuation

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Safe Superintelligence (SSI), a startup co-founded by OpenAI’s former chief scientist Ilya Sutskever, is reportedly in discussions to raise funding at a valuation of $20 billion. This would mark a significant increase from its previous $5 billion valuation during a September funding round, where it raised $1 billion from investors like Sequoia Capital, Andreessen Horowitz, and DST Global.

SSI’s talks come at a time when high-profile AI ventures are facing a reappraisal of their valuations following Chinese startup DeepSeek’s release of a cost-effective AI model. Despite not yet generating any revenue, SSI’s mission is to develop “safe superintelligence” that is both smarter than humans and aligned with human interests. However, much of the company’s work and approach remains under wraps, fueling intrigue among investors.

The company’s founders include Daniel Gross, previously of Apple, and Daniel Levy, a former OpenAI researcher. While SSI’s approach to AI is still not widely known, Sutskever’s reputation for groundbreaking work in AI, particularly in scaling and inference techniques, has garnered significant attention. SSI’s focus on “scaling in peace” aims to insulate progress from short-term commercial pressures, a stark contrast to the trajectory of OpenAI, which shifted to commercial products after the success of ChatGPT in 2022.

The conversation around SSI’s valuation highlights the ongoing competition in the AI space, with OpenAI in talks to potentially double its valuation to $300 billion, and rival Anthropic nearing a funding round that would value it at $60 billion.

OpenAI’s Sam Altman Proposes Stargate-like AI Program for Europe

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OpenAI CEO Sam Altman expressed interest in creating a Stargate-like AI initiative for Europe, similar to the U.S. version backed by President Donald Trump. The U.S. venture, which includes major backers like OpenAI, Softbank, and Oracle, plans to invest up to $500 billion in AI infrastructure over the next five years. During a panel discussion at the Technical University of Berlin, Altman stated that his company would be eager to bring a similar program to Europe, but emphasized that Europeans should determine the rules and regulations for AI technology. Altman further stressed the importance of Europe embracing AI to stay competitive globally.

As part of OpenAI’s expansion in Europe, the company also announced plans to open a new office in Munich, Germany. Altman highlighted that this would enable OpenAI to help more individuals, businesses, and institutions harness the potential of AI. This new office follows the opening of OpenAI offices in Dublin and London in 2023 and plans for further expansion in Paris and Brussels in 2024. Altman is also set to attend an AI summit in Paris on Monday, which will be attended by European leaders and other officials.

OpenAI Explores U.S. Data Center Sites for Stargate AI Project Amid China Competition

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OpenAI announced on Thursday that it is evaluating several U.S. states as potential locations for data centers supporting its Stargate AI venture. The initiative is positioned as a strategic move to maintain U.S. leadership over China in the AI race.

Chris Lehane, OpenAI’s chief global affairs officer, highlighted the competitive urgency. “With the emergence of DeepSeek, it’s clear this competition is serious. Whoever prevails will shape the future, whether it’s democratic and open AI or authoritarian and autocratic AI,” he said.

Stargate, unveiled by U.S. President Donald Trump last month, represents a private sector AI infrastructure investment of up to $500 billion. Funded by SoftBank, OpenAI, and Oracle, the project has already committed $100 billion for immediate deployment, with further investments to roll out over the next four years.

Sixteen U.S. states have expressed interest in hosting Stargate data centers, with Texas designated as the flagship location. The first data center, under construction in Abilene, Texas, is being developed by startup Crusoe and is expected to be partially operational later this year. Keith Heyde, leading site selection for Stargate, said, “We are looking at five to ten sites for our campus footprint.”

However, the emergence of China’s low-cost DeepSeek AI model has cast doubt on the assumption that large-scale, specialized data centers are essential for AI advancement. DeepSeek researchers claimed they trained their model on less sophisticated chips at a fraction of the cost required by American AI models.

This development sent shockwaves through global markets. Investors reacted by dumping tech stocks, particularly Nvidia, the leading AI chipmaker, wiping out $593 billion of its market value—the largest one-day loss ever recorded on Wall Street.