Alphabet Inc. and Nvidia Corporation have invested in Safe Superintelligence (SSI), an artificial intelligence startup co-founded by former OpenAI Chief Scientist Ilya Sutskever. This investment underscores the escalating strategic interest of major technology firms in AI infrastructure and the development of safe superintelligent systems.

SSI recently achieved a valuation of $32 billion in a funding round led by Greenoaks Capital Partners. The substantial valuation, despite the company's pre-revenue status, reflects investor confidence in SSI's mission and leadership.

Founded in June 2024 by Sutskever, along with Daniel Gross, former AI lead at Apple, and Daniel Levy, a former OpenAI researcher, SSI is dedicated to developing safe superintelligent AI systems. The company emphasizes that safety and capabilities are intertwined technical challenges to be addressed through revolutionary engineering and scientific breakthroughs.

In September 2024, SSI raised $1 billion from investors including Andreessen Horowitz, Sequoia Capital, and SV Angel, achieving a valuation of $5 billion. By March 2025, the company's valuation surged to $30 billion in a funding round led by Greenoaks Capital, reflecting rapid growth and investor confidence.

Alphabet's cloud division is supplying SSI with its proprietary Tensor Processing Units (TPUs). This marks a strategic shift for Alphabet, transitioning from exclusive in-house use of TPUs to offering them to external partners, thereby expanding its footprint in the AI hardware market.

Despite Nvidia's dominance in the AI chip sector, SSI primarily utilizes Google's TPUs for its operations. This collaboration indicates a nuanced approach to hardware partnerships within the AI industry.

The AI sector is witnessing intensified competition among tech giants. Amazon, for instance, is developing its own AI chips, Trainium and Inferentia, and supporting AI labs like Anthropic. This investment by Alphabet and Nvidia in SSI reflects a strategic move to bolster their positions in the evolving AI landscape.

The substantial valuation of SSI, despite its pre-revenue status, highlights a trend where investors are willing to fund AI startups based on their potential and the expertise of their leadership. This trend is evident in other AI startups, such as Thinking Machines Lab, co-founded by former OpenAI CTO Mira Murati, which is reportedly seeking a $10 billion valuation.

SSI's focus on developing safe superintelligent AI underscores the growing emphasis on ethical considerations in AI development. Ensuring that AI systems align with human values and safety standards is becoming a central concern in the industry.

The influx of substantial investments into AI startups like SSI indicates a robust belief in the transformative potential of AI technologies. This trend is likely to influence job markets, economic policies, and the global technological landscape.

The investment by Alphabet and Nvidia in Safe Superintelligence underscores the strategic importance of AI infrastructure and the development of safe superintelligent systems. As competition intensifies, such collaborations and investments are likely to shape the future trajectory of the AI industry.