Sam Altman told Fortune on September 12, 2026 that OpenAI will not go public this year, calling the current moment an 'ill-advised moment to go public' given the state of AI safety debate. OpenAI confidentially filed a draft S-1 with the SEC back in June. Altman's comments are the clearest signal yet that the company is pushing that timeline into 2027.

The Details

Altman made the comments in an exclusive interview with Fortune editor in chief Alyson Shontell, published September 12. Asked whether OpenAI still felt pressure to move fast because of its IPO plans, Altman said the company is "not rushing into an IPO" and that it would be an "ill-advised moment to go public" right now. Pressed on whether that ruled out 2026, he confirmed: "not 2026."

That's a shift in framing, not a new filing. OpenAI's last disclosed private valuation was roughly $852 billion, set in a March 2026 round, and earlier reporting had floated a possible IPO valuation north of $1 trillion.

Altman tied the delay explicitly to safety, telling Shontell OpenAI has "a lot of stuff to do" on alignment and on how "the industry and governments can work together." The interview also touched on AI moving beyond human control, which Altman called "absolutely" possible, a framing OpenAI has leaned into more since the Astra release.

Why It Matters

I've watched three cycles now of AI labs use safety language to explain business timing, and it's rarely just one or the other. OpenAI has genuine, disclosed safety work underway, and it also has a business case for waiting: a private company doesn't have to show its financials, and OpenAI's own June blog post said as much.

The timing also isn't happening in a vacuum. Anthropic's Dario Amodei published an essay the day before calling for the industry to slow AI capability growth, and Anthropic is simultaneously being reported at a nearly $2 trillion IPO valuation target for October, up from its $965 billion Series H in May. Two rival CEOs invoking caution in the same week that one of them is trying to price the largest IPO in history is worth watching skeptically, not taking at face value.

What to Watch

The real tell will be whether OpenAI's confidential S-1 gets amended or withdrawn, since a live filing paired with a public "not this year" is a fairly normal pre-IPO posture, not a reversal. Also watch whether Anthropic actually prices its offering in October near the reported $2 trillion mark. If Anthropic lists first at that valuation, expect renewed pressure on OpenAI regardless of what Altman said this week. For more on how OpenAI's safety posture is shifting elsewhere, see our coverage of the enterprise safety rules OpenAI now backs.

Key Takeaways

  • Altman confirmed to Fortune that OpenAI will not IPO in 2026, calling it an 'ill-advised moment to go public.'
  • OpenAI confidentially filed a draft S-1 with the SEC on June 8, 2026, but has said timing was undecided from the start.
  • The delay is framed around AI safety, not disclosed market or financial pressure.
  • Anthropic is reportedly targeting an October 2026 IPO near a $2 trillion valuation, a figure not confirmed by Anthropic itself.