OpenAI IPO: Altman rules out 2026 listing
Original: OpenAI’s Sam Altman says it would be ‘ill-advised’ to go public in 2026
Why This Matters
A delayed IPO signals that AI safety incidents can directly affect major tech capital market timelines.
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman said in a Fortune interview on September 12, 2026, that going public this year would be 'ill-advised,' citing AI safety concerns following the OpenAI-HuggingFace hack. Despite a confidential IPO filing, Altman confirmed the company is targeting 2027 at the earliest.
Sam Altman told Fortune editor in chief Alyson Shontell that OpenAI will not rush into an IPO, saying 'right now would be an ill-advised moment to go public' given the current AI safety environment—comments made in the wake of the OpenAI-HuggingFace hack and wider public debate about AI risks. When pressed directly, Altman confirmed: 'I would say not 2026, yeah. We've got a lot of stuff to do.' He added that OpenAI will go public 'when we're ready, which is when the business is ready, when we feel ready from what the moment is like in society with this technology.' The New York Times had reported in June that OpenAI originally targeted Q3 or Q4 2026 for its listing after hiring bankers and lawyers, but had already been leaning toward 2027 due to tech stock volatility and internal financial challenges. OpenAI has filed confidentially for an IPO, meaning the process remains underway—just not on a 2026 timeline.