OpenAI will not go public in 2026, Chief Executive Sam Altman said this weekend, pointing to unresolved questions about artificial intelligence safety just as the industry's two most prominent labs diverge sharply on how — and how fast — to approach public markets.
Altman told Fortune that, given "everything happening with safety," now would be "an ill-advised moment to go public," suggesting a listing could instead arrive in 2027 or later. The comments, first reported Saturday, mark a retreat from earlier speculation that OpenAI was preparing to test public markets this year.
The remarks followed by hours an essay published by Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei calling on the AI industry to deliberately slow the pace of capability gains, a document Altman and xAI's Elon Musk both publicly backed. The alignment among rival chief executives rattled AI-linked stocks Monday and was cited by CNBC as one factor behind the S&P 500's decline, as investors weighed what a coordinated slowdown could mean for the revenue growth priced into AI valuations.
Anthropic moves the other way
Even as OpenAI pulls back, Anthropic is reportedly pressing ahead with its own listing plans, targeting a valuation as high as $2 trillion and a raise of up to $100 billion, with roadshow marketing that could begin as early as mid-October, according to Fortune's reporting. Not everyone has taken Amodei's essay at face value.
Extremely self-serving.
Jim Cramer, on Dario Amodei's call for an AI development slowdown
Cramer laid out two theories for his skepticism: that a slower pace of capital spending could make Anthropic's own IPO prospectus more attractive to investors wary of runaway AI capex, or that inviting regulators to formalize a pacing standard could raise barriers that smaller, newer AI startups would struggle to clear.
The split arrives during a record year for AI-focused venture investment, with more than 70% of global startup capital in the second quarter flowing to AI-focused companies, according to Crunchbase data. A prolonged wait for the sector's marquee listings could test whether private markets can keep absorbing capital at the pace of the past 18 months, or whether investors begin demanding the liquidity that only a public offering provides.
The gap between the two labs' approaches adds to what CNBC has described as a "shakeup" in the broader pipeline of AI-related public offerings, as investors reassess how safety concerns raised by the industry's own leaders might reshape the timeline — and the price — for the sector's next wave of listings.
