Altman: OpenAI will not go public in 2026

In a Fortune exclusive, OpenAI chief executive Sam Altman said listing the company now would be an “ill-advised moment” given safety work, and when pressed he said “not 2026.”

A Fortune interview puts “not 2026” on the record from OpenAI’s CEO, which is a timing signal you can quote. A 2027 listing, a $1 trillion print, and any industry pact stay other people’s framing until someone posts a date or a deal.

Fortune published “Sam Altman confirms OpenAI won’t go public this year,” from an exclusive Friday interview at OpenAI’s San Francisco headquarters by editor-in-chief Alyson Shontell. That interview is the primary. OpenAI has not posted a matching IPO-timing note on openai.com. An IPO is an initial public offering — listing shares for public trading.

Altman, as quoted by Fortune: “I actually think that, given everything happening with safety, right now would be an ill-advised moment to go public, and we don’t feel pressure on that.” 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.” TechCrunch’s same-day recap carries the shorter cut of that pair.

Pressed on whether 2026 is off the table in favor of 2027, Fortune quotes: “I would say not 2026. Yeah, we got a lot of stuff to do, like meeting this moment of what is going to be required for safety and alignment, and how the industry and governments can work together.” File “not 2026.”

Fortune reports that Altman said he is happy to delay the IPO for safety work, that “society needs to contend with these models at each level of capability,” and that the company has discussed pauses as it reaches new capability levels. He also pointed at OpenAI’s nonprofit / for-profit split: “We have put up with this incredibly complicated structure for a long time, and this moment that we’re in now is kind of why… We need to be able to make decisions that are not obviously in the interest of our business and our shareholders for the responsibility of fulfilling our mission.” Those are his words on Fortune’s page.

Fortune writes that Altman “also suggested” leading labs “may be close to announcing a pact to slow AI development.” That is Fortune’s characterization, not a signed pact and not a quote.

Fortune cites the New York Times from June: OpenAI was leaning toward slipping a listing that “could value it at $1 trillion” — one trillion dollars — from 2026 into 2027, with SpaceX’s IPO as a then-current market comparison. Those figures and the SpaceX tape are prior reporting Fortune is restating — not new numbers from Altman in this interview.