Sam Altman says OpenAI going public in 2026 would be ‘ill-advised’
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman ruled out a 2026 IPO, calling it 'ill-advised' given safety concerns, and said AI beyond human control is possible.
In a Fortune interview, Sam Altman confirmed OpenAI will not go public in 2026, stating that an IPO now would be 'ill-advised' given everything happening with safety. He also said it is 'absolutely' possible to build AI beyond human control but vowed to prevent it, even if that meant pausing training. Altman additionally discussed the Hugging Face hacking incident and recursive self-improvement during the 45-minute interview.
- Altman ruled out an OpenAI IPO in 2026, citing safety timing
- He said an IPO now would be 'ill-advised' amid safety work
- Called building AI beyond human control 'absolutely' possible
- Vowed to pause training if needed to avoid catastrophic risk
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He also said that it was ‘absolutely’ possible to build an AI beyond human control.
He also said that it was ‘absolutely’ possible to build an AI beyond human control.
by Terrence O'Brien
Sep 12, 2026, 9:16 PM UTC
Image: The Verge
Terrence O'Brien
is the Verge’s weekend editor. He’s covered the tech industry for over 18 years and knows a thing or two about synths.
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman confirmed that there would be no OpenAI IPO in 2026 during an interview with Fortune. Over the course of 45 minutes, Altman discussed a variety of subjects including the Hugging Face hacking incident, recursive self-improvement, and the possibility of building an AI that was beyond human control. On the latter, he said it was “absolutely” possible, but vowed to take actions to prevent that from happening, even if it meant pausing training, adding that “there are risks we should not be able to incur on behalf of humanity.”
“We’re not rushing into an IPO. I actually think that, given everything happening with safety, this would be, right now would be an ill-advised moment to go public. And we don’t feel pressure on that. We’ve said for a long time, we’ll do it when we’re ready… I would say not 2026. We’ve got a lot of stuff to do.”
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- Terrence O'Brien
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