OpenAI CEO Sam Altman Says Company Will Not Go Public in 2026

OpenAI Chief Executive Sam Altman stated the company will not go public in 2026, citing safety concerns over artificial intelligence.

Altman told Fortune business magazine that right now would be an ill-advised moment for OpenAI to become a public company. He called even a 10% risk that AI could cause human extinction by decade’s end unacceptable. Altman stated he did not know how such an estimate could be made, but warned the risk was serious enough that AI companies and governments should act as though it could not be tolerated.

He added, "Whether it’s 10 or eight or six, the point is, we all have a tremendous amount of responsibility, and cannot let egos or incentives for profit or anything else get in the way." Altman emphasized, "We need to act such that we are not taking any of those numbers of risk, and I believe we can."

Altman's comments come as more US lawmakers urge new rules to govern AI systems. Two researchers from OpenAI rival Anthropic issued dire warnings that rapidly progressing AI could lead to human extinction. Politicians, both Democrat and Republican, have responded with alarm and calls for more action after cases of AI agents going rogue to hack external systems and AI safety researchers quitting their companies.

In June, The New York Times reported that San Francisco-based OpenAI was considering holding off until next year on a potentially trillion-dollar IPO. At that time, shares in Elon Musk's SpaceX IPO were tumbling after a surge that sent that company's valuation to $1.8 trillion. US President Donald Trump on Sunday slammed critics of artificial intelligence who warned firms to slow down development, branding them negative forces.