In a recent interview with Fortune, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman announced that the company will not pursue an initial public offering (IPO) in 2026, mainly due to safety concerns surrounding artificial intelligence. He emphasized, “Given everything happening with safety, right now would be an ill-advised moment to go public, and we don’t feel pressure on that.”
The call for regulatory measures has intensified among U.S. lawmakers following alarming warnings from researchers at Anthropic, a competitor of OpenAI. They cautioned that the rapid evolution of AI could pose existential threats to humanity in the near future.
These warnings come amid instances where AI systems have demonstrated rogue behavior, including unauthorized access to external systems. Additionally, some AI safety researchers have chosen to leave their companies due to concerns over the inherent risks of the technology, prompting both Democratic and Republican politicians to express urgency for action.
A report from The New York Times earlier in June indicated that OpenAI was contemplating delaying its IPO, potentially worth trillions, until the following year. This consideration arose during a period of volatility in the stock market, particularly with shares in SpaceX, founded by Elon Musk, falling after an initial surge in the company’s valuation to $1.8 trillion.
When asked if 2026 was completely off the table in favor of 2027, Altman replied, “I would say not 2026. Yeah, we got a lot of stuff to do, like meeting this moment of what is going to be required for safety and alignment, and how the industry and governments can work together.”
Furthermore, Altman hinted that OpenAI and other major players in the AI sector may soon reach a consensus to slow down development and collaboratively tackle safety issues. This sentiment was echoed by Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei, who, in a recent essay, urged AI companies to adopt a more cautious approach to advancements, stating, “We must slow the pace at which we improve the capabilities of AI models.”
Altman expressed his agreement with Amodei’s approach, stating on the X platform that discussions about pacing the frontier have been a primary focus at OpenAI in recent weeks.
Despite the general hesitation surrounding AI safety, Anthropic appears to be moving forward with its IPO plans and may begin marketing its offering by mid-October, with a potential listing just before the U.S. midterm elections in November, according to sources familiar with the matter.
