OpenAI rules out 2026 IPO, calls AI extinction risk 'unacceptable'

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CEOs of US leading AI companies call for AI slowdown over safety concerns. /VCG

OpenAI will not go public in 2026, CEO Sam Altman said in remarks published on Saturday, citing safety concerns over artificial intelligence that render "unacceptable" even a 10% risk that AI could cause human extinction by decade's end.

The comments come as more US lawmakers urge new rules to govern AI systems after dire warnings from two researchers from OpenAI rival Anthropic that rapidly progressing AI could lead to the extinction of the human race in the not-too-distant future.

"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," Altman told business magazine Fortune.

Asked if there was a 10% chance of AI-driven extinction, Altman said he did not know how such an estimate could be made, but warned the risk was serious enough that AI companies and governments should act as though it could not be tolerated.

"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," Altman added.

"We need to act such that we are not taking any of those numbers of risk, and I believe we can."

Asked by Fortune if an IPO date of 2026 was off the table in favor of 2027, Altman said, "I would say not 2026."

"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."

Altman also suggested that OpenAI and other leading AI firms may be close to unveiling a pact to slow AI development and work together to tackle safety risks, Fortune said.

On Saturday, Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei urged AI companies to take a more deliberate approach to development.

"We must slow the pace at which we improve the capabilities of AI models," Amodei wrote in an essay on X.

Altman later posted that he agreed with the sentiment.

"I agree with Dario that we need to pace the frontier," Altman wrote. "This has been a primary topic of discussions we've had at OpenAI in recent weeks."

Safety concerns have not slowed Anthropic's own IPO plans. It is expected to begin marketing its initial public offering in mid-October at the earliest and complete the listing days before the US midterm elections in November, people familiar with the matter told Reuters this month.