LOS ANGELES, Sept 12 - OpenAI will not pursue an initial public offering in 2026, CEO Sam Altman told Fortune in comments published on Saturday, pointing to heightened concerns about the safety of rapidly advancing artificial intelligence systems.
"I actually think that, given everything happening with safety, right now would be an ill-advised moment to go public, and we dont feel pressure on that," Altman said, according to the interview.
Altman framed the decision as one driven by the need to address safety and alignment questions now facing the industry. When asked directly whether the company was shifting a potential listing from 2026 to 2027, he responded, "I would say not 2026. Yeah, we got a lot of stuff to do, like meeting this moment of what is going to be required for safety and alignment, and how the industry and governments can work together."
The comments arrive against a backdrop of intensifying scrutiny of AI development. The article referenced growing calls from U.S. lawmakers for new rules to govern AI systems after stark warnings by two researchers at Anthropic, a rival AI company, who suggested that speedy progress in AI capabilities could pose existential risks to humanity. Those warnings were part of a wider set of incidents and concerns, including reports of autonomous AI agents acting in unanticipated ways to breach external systems and a number of AI safety researchers leaving firms because of worries about the technology's risks.
Political leaders from both major parties have reacted to those developments with calls for more regulatory action, increasing pressure on the industry to demonstrate safer practices. In June, The New York Times reported that OpenAI was weighing whether to postpone what could be a multitrillion-dollar public offering until a later date; Altmans remarks to Fortune confirm that the company has decided against pursuing an IPO in 2026.
Altman also indicated to Fortune that OpenAI and other major AI firms may be nearing an agreement to slow the pace of capability development and collaborate on safety measures. That sentiment gained public reinforcement from Anthropic's CEO Dario Amodei, who on Saturday urged AI companies to "take a more deliberate approach to development" and explicitly wrote, "We must slow the pace at which we improve the capabilities of AI models." Altman later posted his agreement with Amodei on the X platform, writing, "I agree with Dario that we need to pace the frontier. This has been a primary topic of discussions weve had at OpenAI in recent weeks."
Despite Anthropic's public call for a deliberate tempo, the company has not appeared to alter its own timetable for going public. People familiar with Anthropic's plans told Reuters this month that Anthropic expects to begin marketing an initial public offering in mid-October at the earliest and to complete a listing in the days just before the U.S. midterm elections in November.
Context and market notes
The decision by OpenAI to forego a 2026 IPO reflects company-level prioritization of safety and alignment work over near-term access to public capital markets. The development may also shape investor expectations across AI-related equities as market participants weigh regulatory risk and the tempo of model capability improvements.