OpenAI CEO Sam Altman said the company does not plan to pursue an initial public offering in 2026, calling a public listing “ill-advised” under current conditions. Altman discussed the company’s plans during an approximately 45-minute Fortune interview, as first reported by Engadget.
“We’re not rushing into an IPO,” Altman said. His comments offer a clearer near-term position from one of the most closely watched AI companies, whose funding, governance and research direction draw unusual attention from investors and policymakers.
Altman ties the company’s future to AI safety risks
The interview ranged beyond financial plans. Fortune also asked Altman about the Hugging Face hacking incident, recursive self-improvement and the prospect that an AI system could move beyond human control.
Altman said that outcome is “absolutely” possible. He said the AI developer might pause training to reduce the risk, and argued that some risks should not be incurred on humanity’s behalf.
That position matters because an IPO would place greater pressure on the business to meet public-market expectations while it confronts decisions about how quickly to build and deploy increasingly capable systems. OpenAI’s leaders have already faced scrutiny over who controls the organization and how it balances commercial growth with its stated safety goals. Remaining private in 2026 gives management more room to make research and training decisions without quarterly reporting demands.
A public listing remains an open question
Altman did not identify a future year for a potential offering. The available accounts also do not establish whether the company’s board has made a formal decision on going public, or which specific current safety developments informed his assessment that an IPO would be ill-advised. For now, his remarks describe a near-term stance rather than a permanent rejection of the public markets.
This article was produced with AI assistance from multi-source reporting and is published under our editorial standards.
