Sam Altman has ruled out taking OpenAI public in 2026, saying the current climate around AI safety makes an IPO ill-advised. Speaking in an interview with Fortune editor in chief Alyson Shontell, the CEO pushed back on the idea that the company is racing toward the public markets.
The comments follow a confidential IPO filing and months of speculation. The New York Times reported in June that OpenAI had hired bankers and lawyers with an eye on listing in the third or fourth quarter of 2026, but was leaning toward 2027 because of volatile tech stocks and financial pressure. Altman said the company will list when the business is ready and when the moment in society feels right, adding that there is a lot of work still to do.
The remarks land amid wider tension over the pace of AI development, including fallout from the OpenAI HuggingFace hack and ongoing debates about safety. For founders, the signal is that even the best-funded AI company is choosing stability over a quick liquidity event, and that governance and security concerns now weigh directly on major strategic decisions.