07:55 AM EDT, 05/15/2024 (MT Newswires) -- Microsoft ( MSFT ) -backed startup OpenAI co-founder Ilya Sutskever said Wednesday he is leaving the company.

"I am excited for what comes next - a project that is very personally meaningful to me about which I will share details in due time," Sutskever said in an X post.

OpenAI Chief Executive Sam Altman said in a separate statement, "although he has something personally meaningful he is going to go work on, I am forever grateful for what he did here and committed to finishing the mission we started together."

Jakub Pachocki, previously OpenAI's director of research, will succeed Sutskever as chief scientist, Altman said.

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