33-year-old Jakub Pachocki from Gdynia has just replaced Ilya Sutskever as OpenAI’s new Chief Scientist.
Holding a PhD in theoretical computer science from Carnegie Mellon University, Pachocki’s academic pursuits have revolved around crafting algorithms for machine learning applications. The talented Pole hailed Sutskever’s pivotal role as a mentor and collaborator in shaping his journey in deep learning research.
Ilya introduced me to the world of deep learning research, and has been a mentor to me, and a great collaborator for many years. His incredible vision for what deep learning could become was foundational to what OpenAI, and the field of AI, is today. I am deeply grateful to him… https://t.co/nsbMIOZHpS
— Jakub Pachocki (@merettm) May 14, 2024
During his studies in the Polish city of Gdynia, he achieved numerous successes in competitive programming contests, including those hosted by tech giants like Facebook and Google. His crowning achievement came in 2012 at the Google Code Jam, where he emerged as the champion, securing both the gold medal and a $10,000 prize.
https://twitter.com/OpenAI/status/1790072174117613963
With his extensive background and leadership experience, Pachocki has been at the forefront of OpenAI’s research endeavours since November, leveraging his previous role as Research Director.
https://twitter.com/sama/status/1790518031640347056
His appointment as Chief Scientist coincides with the recent launch of GPT-4o by OpenAI, a groundbreaking update combining various input modalities such as text, audio, and vision, as the financial media outlet Bezinga reports.
Open AI’s CEO Sam Altman described Pachocki as “easily one of the greatest minds of our generation”.
Image: Simons Institute
Author: Sébastien Meuwissen
