Safe Superintelligence (SSI), co-founded by former OpenAI chief scientist Ilya Sutskever, has secured this massive investment with only 10 employees. The company, launched in June by Sutskever along with Daniel Gross, a former Y Combinator partner who previously led AI efforts at Apple, and Daniel Levy, a former colleague of Sutskever’s at OpenAI, is focusing on developing artificial general intelligence (AGI) with an emphasis on safety.

“At the end of the day, it’s all about increasing profits, reducing losses, and mitigating risk. In many use cases where AI can model the problem or historical data, it can provide significant benefits,” Shoab Khan, chancellor of the Sir Syed CASE Institute of Technology, told PYMNTS.

The funding round saw participation from NFDG, a venture capital firm run by Gross and Nat Friedman, alongside tech investment heavyweights Andreessen Horowitz, Sequoia Capital, DST Global and SV Angel. This substantial investment in such a young company underscores the growing interest and high stakes in the race to develop advanced AI systems.

A Billion-Dollar Bet on Safety-Focused AGI

The company plans to use the funds partly for hiring, seeking to assemble what it calls “a lean, cracked team of the world’s best engineers and researchers.”

The 37-year-old Sutskever brings considerable experience to the venture. After completing his Ph.D. under renowned AI academic Geoffrey Hinton at the University of Toronto, he joined Google in 2013 before co-founding OpenAI in 2015. His departure from OpenAI followed a tumultuous period involving him in CEO Sam Altman’s brief ousting.

While SSI has not yet partnered with any cloud providers or chipmakers, a significant portion of the investment is earmarked for building up computing power. Sutskever has indicated that SSI’s approach to scaling will differ from that of OpenAI, though specifics remain undisclosed.

The focus on safety in AI development comes at a time of increasing discourse about advanced AI systems’ potential risks and rewards. Sutskever’s experience leading a safety team at OpenAI that oversaw AI’s existential risks may inform SSI’s approach, although that team was disbanded shortly after his departure.

Balancing Potential and Limitations

According to Khan, AI in commerce has limitations: “This depends on accurately modeling data probability distribution. In cases where data doesn’t follow a clear distribution or depends on many factors — some of which are difficult to measure, such as predicting bitcoin prices — AI’s effectiveness is limited.”

Despite challenges, there is optimism about AI’s potential in business. “I see substantial advantages for investors in supporting AI for decision-making in commerce by building complex models, incorporating all relevant factors and data, and reshaping the role of human oversight and trust,” Khan said.

Companies pushing the boundaries of AI capabilities increase the potential for transforming business practices. The substantial investment in SSI and similar ventures signals a growing recognition of the potential transformative power of advanced AI systems in the business world.

The $5 billion valuation of SSI, a company just three months old, reflects the high expectations and potential that investors see in advanced AI technologies. This valuation puts SSI in the upper echelons of AI startups, competing with more established players.

Research and development efforts at SSI are just beginning, and the broader implications for commerce and industry remain to be seen. The company’s focus on safety in AGI development could set new standards for the industry, potentially influencing how other companies approach AI development and implementation.

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September stands out as the month that will herald the first rate cut by the Federal Reserve after years of hiking interest rates.  At least, that’s what the conventional wisdom says.

For the FinTech IPO Index, specifically for the platforms within that group, lower interest rates should conceivably spur demand for loans and various forms of credit.  Conversely, lower interest rates levied on those loans would impact various earnings metrics. 

Right now, and as seen in the chart below, only a handful of our names have posted positive returns since their debuts as publicly traded entities.

The impacts of a rate cut — or perhaps even rate cuts, plural — might not be felt for some time, and earnings season won’t be here for another three months.  But the platforms, with a spate of partnerships, some corporate finance announcements, and some headlines in the buy now, pay later realm, held sway.

Shares of Katapult sank 17.7% through the past five sessions, followed by Upstart, which lost 15%.  In a release late last week,  Fibre Federal Credit Union, a Washington-based credit union with over 118,000 members and over $1.6 billion in assets, announced a new partnership with Upstart to provide personal loans to new and existing members. Fibre started on the Upstart Referral Network in December 2022.   In the current relationship, qualified personal loan applicants on Upstart.com who meet Fibre Federal’s credit policies will receive tailored offers as they move into  Fibre Federal-branded experience to complete the online member application and closing process.

Oportun, which lost 7%, announced the offering of $223.25 million of fixed-rate asset-backed notes secured by a pool of unsecured and secured installment loans.

Sezzle Taps WeBank

The BNPL names helped offset some of the losses that were noted above.  Sezzle, as we reported,  plans to have WebBank serve as its exclusive bank to originate and finance products offered through the Sezzle platform, including its Pay-in-2 and Pay-in-4 products.

The two companies entered into a strategic partnership program by executing a loan and receivables sale agreement and marketing and servicing agreement last week.   Subject to completion of confirmatory testing and procedures, the program is expected to launch in September, according to SEC filings.

Under the agreement, WebBank will also serve as the exclusive issuer of all Sezzle subscription products and of Sezzle card products, per the filing.

Affirm shares stood out here, having helped lead the FinTech IPO Index to higher last week. Earnings late last week noted that in the words of CEO Max Levchin, interest rate cuts might boost demand for BNPL. Shares soared 25%. “The most exciting thing about reductions at that fund rate is we’ll just have more active users, … we’ll have more repeat users, because we’ll be able to approve more people,” Levchin said.  Earnings results show that 40% of all Affirm transactions in fiscal year 2024 came from consumers transacting quarterly or more often, a stark increase from just 10% in fiscal year 2021, according to the company’s letter to shareholders. The average transactions per active consumer reached 4.9 in Q4 2024.

Elsewhere, and still within the platform space, Robinhood announced that it now offers stock lending for British customers, part of the platform’s ongoing U.K. expansion.  As detailed this week, the offering lets customers lend out any fully paid stock in their portfolio, with Robinhood taking care of finding interested borrowers.  This past week, shares slipped 3.5%.

Once shares are loaned out, the company said, customers can use the app dashboard to track earnings, see their positions and enable or disable lending. Stocks are backed by cash collateral at a third-party bank for additional protection, Robinhood added.

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A PYMNTS Intelligence report, “No-Wait Wages: Leveraging Instant Payments to Boost Employee Satisfaction,” created in collaboration with The Clearing House, highlights how instant payroll solutions are becoming essential in addressing the growing demand for financial flexibility.

The Urgent Need for Real-Time Pay

Workers today are grappling with increased financial pressure, driving a new urgency for on-demand pay. According to the report, 83% of workers desire more frequent pay schedules, a significant shift from the traditional biweekly or semimonthly pay periods.

The push for instant payroll is driven by inflation and a 24% increase in average spending per person, which has strained many workers’ budgets. This financial burden often pushes workers toward high-interest payday loans, worsening their debt. Instant payroll addresses this by giving employees timely access to their earnings, helping them manage expenses and avoid costly loans.

Companies Embrace Instant Payroll Solutions

For younger workers, the need for real-time access to earnings is even more critical. About 70% of Americans report feeling stressed about their personal finances, with 75% of adults aged 18-34 expressing significant financial anxiety. Among Generation Z, 79% of hourly workers admit they frequently lack sufficient funds to cover their bills on time.

According to the report, workers are willing to pay for real-time payroll, but employers seeking to create a healthy working environment should offer this benefit for free. As demand for real-time payroll increases, many companies are adopting these solutions, but some workers are already using costly third-party services with annual interest rates up to 330%.

Companies like DailyPay, which recently raised $175 million and partners with major employers such as Hilton and Target, show that integrating earned wage access (EWA) platforms can improve hiring and retention. For employers, investing in in-house real-time payroll solutions offers a strategic advantage in boosting employee satisfaction and loyalty.

Retention and Satisfaction: The Benefits of No-Fee Payroll

Providing employees with instant access to their wages can significantly boost job satisfaction and retention. Consider that 78% of consumers express high satisfaction with instant payouts, although only 36% currently receive their disbursements this way. Fee-free instant payments have been shown to increase satisfaction by 11% and nearly double the likelihood of employee loyalty.

For businesses facing staffing challenges, the impact of offering no-fee instant payroll can be profound. Forty-six percent of small to medium-sized businesses (SMBs) struggle with staffing shortages, and 42% report difficulties with employee retention.

In such an environment, implementing real-time payroll can provide a competitive edge. Not only does it address the growing demand for financial flexibility, but it also improves employee morale and reduces turnover. As businesses navigate a tight labor market, the ability to offer instant, fee-free payroll could become a crucial factor in attracting and retaining talent.

As employee expectations evolve, the demand for instant payroll reflects broader changes in financial needs. Workers seek flexibility and immediate access to their earnings, compelling employers to adapt. Real-time payroll solutions help address these financial pressures, enhancing job satisfaction and retention.

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