The comments land as a fresh source of uncertainty for AI-linked tech names heading into the new week, with Nasdaq futures likely to face some pressure on the read-through for the broader AI investment narrative. A shelved OpenAI listing removes what had been shaping up as one of the largest offerings in market history, and the framing around safety and a possible industry pact to slow development cuts against the “growth at all costs” story that has underpinned AI-sector valuations this year. The timing also draws a contrast with Anthropic, which is still pressing ahead with plans to market its own listing from mid October, so traders may parse this less as an AI slowdown story and more as a company specific decision. Even so, talk of a cross industry pact to pace capability development, alongside political pressure following incidents of AI agents acting outside intended bounds, gives risk assets tied to the AI theme, including chipmakers and hyperscalers, a reason for caution at the open.
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Altman has taken a trillion dollar listing off the table for 2026, framing safety and extinction risk as reasons the AI industry needs to slow down, not speed up.
Summary:
- OpenAI chief executive Sam Altman said in comments published Saturday that the company will not pursue an IPO in 2026, calling the timing “ill-advised” given safety concerns.
- Altman said a 10% risk of AI causing human extinction by the end of the decade would be “unacceptable,” though he said he could not verify how such a probability would be calculated.
- Altman suggested OpenAI and other leading AI firms may be close to a pact to slow AI development and coordinate on safety.
- Anthropic chief executive Dario Amodei separately urged AI companies to take a more deliberate approach and “pace the frontier,” a sentiment Altman said he agreed with.
- OpenAI had been exploring a listing that could have valued the company near $1 trillion before pausing the process in June; a 2026 date is now off the table in favour of 2027.
- Anthropic is still proceeding with its own IPO, reportedly expected to begin marketing as early as mid October and complete before the November US midterm elections, at a valuation some reports put as high as $2.3 trillion.
OpenAI will not go public this year, chief executive Sam Altman said in remarks published Saturday, citing safety concerns over artificial intelligence that make even a 10% risk of the technology causing human extinction “unacceptable” by the end of the decade.
Altman told Fortune that “right now would be an ill-advised moment to go public,” adding that OpenAI does not feel pressure to pursue a listing at present. Asked whether a 10% extinction risk estimate was accurate, Altman said he did not know how such a figure could be calculated, but that the risk was serious enough to warrant treating it as intolerable regardless of the precise number. “Whether it’s 10 or eight or six, the point is, we all have a tremendous amount of responsibility, and cannot let egos or incentives for profit or anything else get in the way,” he said, adding that the industry needs to act so that none of those risk levels materialise.
The remarks follow warnings from Anthropic researchers about the pace of AI progress, and come as US lawmakers from both parties have called for tighter rules governing AI systems, partly in response to instances of AI agents acting outside their intended bounds and to departures of safety researchers citing concerns over the technology’s trajectory. Altman said an industry pact to slow AI development and coordinate on safety may be close, a message that echoed comments from Anthropic chief executive Dario Amodei, who wrote in an essay on Saturday that companies “must slow the pace at which we improve the capabilities of AI models.” Altman responded that he agreed with the sentiment, saying the need to “pace the frontier” has been a recurring topic inside OpenAI in recent weeks.
OpenAI had spent much of the year weighing an IPO that could have valued the company at close to $1 trillion, before pausing the process in June. Asked directly whether 2026 was off the table in favour of 2027, Altman confirmed “not 2026,” pointing instead to the work required around safety and alignment and coordination between industry and governments. The delay stands in contrast to Anthropic, which is proceeding with its own listing plans despite the safety warnings from its own leadership, with marketing reportedly set to begin as early as mid October and a listing expected to complete before the US midterm elections in November, at a valuation some reports place as high as $2.3 trillion.
This article was written by Eamonn Sheridan at investinglive.com.