OpenAI CEO Sam Altman rules out 2026 IPO, cites AI safety risks

OpenAI Chief Executive Sam Altman stated that the company will not go public in 2026 due to safety concerns and the unacceptable risk of AI-driven extinction.

Altman noted that a 10% or even single-digit risk of human extinction from AI is serious enough that companies and governments must act to prevent it.

Altman agreed with Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei on the need to pace frontier AI development and indicated that a collaborative safety pact among leading firms may be imminent.