Sam is backed by investors who are looking for returns, and are not sure if Ilya will get them the same juicy 100X.
So, if Sam comes back, then I’m pretty sure Ilya will go on his own. Whether he will focus on GPT or AGI or ?, is anyone’s guess, as is how many from OpenAI will follow him as everyone loves money.
EDIT: Ilya should have no trouble finding benefactors of his own, whether they are one of the FAANGs or VCs is TBD.