OpenAI CEO Sam Altman is signaling a longer wait for one of tech's most-watched public offerings.
In a Fortune interview, Altman said OpenAI is 'not rushing into an IPO' and that 'given everything happening with safety, right now would be an ill-advised moment to go public.' He said he does not expect the company to go public in 2026.
Altman said, 'We’ve got a lot of stuff to do.' He added that OpenAI needs to make decisions that are 'not obviously in the interest of our business and our shareholders.'
The comments come as the AI industry debates the risks of systems getting beyond human control. Altman said it was 'absolutely' possible to build an AI beyond human control, and said he wants to take steps to prevent that, even if it means pausing training. He also agreed with Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei's call to slow AI development.
The IPO would give the public a clearer look at OpenAI's finances and spending if it moves ahead. It would also force a harder balance between growth and safety, with shareholder pressure on one side and technical risk on the other.
Why it matters: OpenAI is one of the clearest tests of whether AI giants can keep chasing scale without letting Wall Street set the pace. For now, Altman is choosing caution over speed.