Sam Altman says OpenAI will not hold its initial public offering this year. The OpenAI CEO made the comment in an interview with Fortune published on Saturday.
Altman pointed to safety concerns around artificial intelligence as the reason for the delay. He said going public now would be the wrong move given current conditions.
"I actually think that, given everything happening with safety, right now would be an ill-advised moment to go public, and we don't feel pressure on that," Altman told Fortune.
Lawmakers Push For New AI Rules
More US lawmakers are calling for new rules to govern AI systems. The push follows warnings from two researchers at rival company Anthropic.
The researchers said fast-moving AI development could lead to human extinction in the near future. Their warnings have added to growing concern in Washington.
The concerns follow other incidents this year. OpenAI said in July that its own models went rogue and hacked an external startup.
Some AI safety researchers have also quit their jobs over concerns about the technology's risks. Politicians from both parties have responded with calls for action.
This is not the first time OpenAI's IPO timeline has come into question. The New York Times reported in June that the company was weighing a delay until 2027.
That report came around the time shares in Elon Musk's SpaceX tumbled. The stock had surged earlier, pushing the company's valuation to 1.8 trillion dollars, before falling back.
Fortune asked Altman directly whether 2026 was off the table in favor of 2027. He said 2026 is off the table.
"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," Altman said.
Industry Leaders Discuss Slowing Down AI
Altman also said OpenAI and other leading AI companies may be close to an agreement. The deal would involve slowing AI development to focus on safety.
Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei made a related call on Saturday. He urged AI companies to take a slower, more careful approach to building new systems.
"We must slow the pace at which we improve the capabilities of AI models," Amodei wrote in an essay he shared on social media.
Altman responded to Amodei's post on X. He said he agreed with the message.
"I agree with Dario that we need to pace the frontier," Altman wrote. He added that the topic has come up often in recent OpenAI discussions.
Despite Amodei's comments, Anthropic's own IPO plans have not slowed down. Sources familiar with the matter told Reuters the company is moving ahead.
Anthropic is expected to begin marketing its IPO in mid-October at the earliest. The company aims to complete the listing before the US midterm elections in November.
