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OpenAI co-founder and former chief scientist Ilya Sutskever\u2019s new AI startup, Safe Superintelligence (SSI), is using Google Cloud\u2019s TPU chips to power its AI research, part of a new partnership the companies announced on Wednesday in a press release<\/a>.<\/p>\n Google Cloud says SSI is using TPUs to \u201caccelerate its research and development efforts toward building a safe, superintelligent AI.\u201d<\/p>\n Cloud providers are chasing a handful of unicorn AI startups that spend hundreds of millions of dollars on computing power every year to train AI foundation models. SSI\u2019s deal with Google Cloud suggests the former will spend a large chunk of its computing budget with Google Cloud; a source familiar tells TechCrunch that Google Cloud is SSI\u2019s primary computing provider.<\/p>\n Google Cloud has a history of striking computing deals with its former AI researchers, many of whom are now running billion-dollar AI startups. (Sutskever once worked at Google.) In October, Google Cloud said it would be the primary computing provider for <\/a>World Labs<\/a>, founded by ex-Google Cloud AI chief scientist Fei-Fei Li.<\/p>\n It\u2019s unclear if SSI has struck partnerships with other cloud or computing providers. A Google Cloud spokesperson declined to comment. A Safe Superintelligence spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment.<\/p>\n SSI came out of stealth in June 2024, months after Sutskever departed from his role<\/a> as OpenAI\u2019s chief scientist. The company has $1 billion in backing from Andreessen Horowitz, Sequoia Capital, DST Global, SV Angel, and others. <\/p>\n Since SSI\u2019s launch, we\u2019ve heard relatively little about the startup\u2019s activities. On its website<\/a>, SSI says that developing safe, superintelligent AI systems is \u201cour mission, our name, and our entire product roadmap, because it is our sole focus.\u201d Sutskever previously said<\/a> that he had identified \u201ca new mountain to climb\u201d and is investigating new ways to improve the performance of frontier AI models.<\/p>\n Before co-founding OpenAI, Sutskever spent several years at Google Brain researching neural networks. After leading OpenAI\u2019s AI safety work for years, Sutskever played a key role in the ousting of OpenAI CEO Sam Altman in November 2023. Sutskever later joined an employee movement to reinstate Altman as CEO. <\/p>\n After the ordeal, Sutskever reportedly wasn\u2019t seen at OpenAI\u2019s offices for months, and ultimately left the startup to start SSI.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n