OpenAI’s Sam Altman says it would be ‘ill-advised’ to go public in 2026
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OpenAI CEO Sam Altman said it would be ill-advised for the company to go public in 2026, citing safety-related developments. Although OpenAI has filed confidentially for an IPO, Altman said in a recent interview with Fortune editor in chief Alyson Shontell that the company is not rushing into one. The interview occurred amid fallout from the OpenAI-HuggingFace hack and broader discussions about AI safety. Altman said OpenAI will go public when it is ready, meaning when the business is ready and when the moment in society regarding the technology feels right. When pressed on whether that meant no IPO in 2026, he replied that it would not happen in 2026 and that there is a lot to do. The New York Times reported in June that OpenAI had hired bankers and lawyers with a goal of going public in the third or fourth quarter of 2026, but was leaning toward 2027 because of tech stock volatility and its own financial challenges.
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