OpenAI CEO Sam Altman said it would be "ill-advised" for the company to go public in 2026, even though OpenAI has already filed confidentially for an IPO. He made the comments in an interview with Fortune editor in chief Alyson Shontell.
"We're not rushing into an IPO," Altman said, according to an account of the interview published by TechCrunch reporter Anthony Ha on September 12, 2026, at 1:19 PM PDT.
A Safety-Driven Pause
Altman tied the timing directly to safety concerns. "I actually think that given everything happening with safety, right now would be an ill-advised moment to go public," he said.
The interview touched on the fallout from the OpenAI-HuggingFace hack and broader discussions about AI safety, giving context to Altman's caution. Shontell also asked whether OpenAI still feels pressure to "move really fast" because of its IPO plans.
No Firm Date, Just Conditions
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Altman declined to name a new target year. He said 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."
Pressed on whether the IPO simply is not happening in 2026, he answered: "I would say not 2026, yeah. We've got a lot of stuff to do."
What Was Reported Before
The New York Times reported in June 2026 that OpenAI had hired bankers and lawyers with the goal of going public in Q3 or Q4 2026. The same report said OpenAI was leaning toward 2027 because of volatility in tech stocks and its own financial challenges. Altman's new remarks confirm the delay to 2026 is off the table but leave the 2027 possibility open.
Context Beyond the IPO
For now, OpenAI remains a private company with a confidential IPO filing on record and a CEO who says the public markets can wait.