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Sam Altman Says OpenAI Will Stay Private Through 2026 on AI Safety Grounds

September 12, 2026 at 22:27 EDT

Funding & M&A
Policy & Regulation

OpenAI will not list its shares in 2026, Chief Executive Officer Sam Altman said, calling a public offering now both “ill-timed” and “ill-advised” because of artificial intelligence safety concerns and stating that a debut will not take place until 2027.

Sept. 12, 2026 · OpenAI

No IPO in 2026

Sam Altman says a public listing this year would be ill-timed and ill-advised while OpenAI focuses on AI safety and alignment. He pointed instead to 2027.

Magnitude of the risk he flagged

A 10% catastrophe chance, drawn to scale

10%

Risk cited

1 in 10

Same risk, full scale

Altman said a roughly 10% chance of killing everybody by the end of the decade is unacceptable — and a reason not to take OpenAI public this year.

2026

Listing ruled out

2027

Year now cited

$1T

Reported IPO value

$85B

SpaceX IPO raise

Path he described

June 2026 filing

Confidential S-1, timing left open

→

Safety work now

Alignment, pauses, possible industry pact

→

Listing in 2027

No date set; 2026 door closed

Why stay private

Altman says remaining private lets OpenAI pause training, work with governments, and make calls that are not obviously in shareholders’ interest.

What skeptics argue

A later listing also ducks a public-market clock, leaves a reported $1 trillion value untested, and may cede the 2026 IPO race to Anthropic.

The condition he set

Go public when the business — and society — are ready.

No rush: “we don’t feel pressure” to list now
Safety and alignment work comes first
Industry and governments still need to coordinate

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