Sam Altman has stated that OpenAI will not pursue an initial public offering until the company can make confident claims about the safety of its AI models, with no definite timeline provided. This decision comes amid months of controversy surrounding whether AI companies can adequately control their systems, following several high-profile cybersecurity incidents at OpenAI, Anthropic, Meta and Google. Altman expressed concern that going public could create pressure to prioritise shareholder expectations over safety considerations during a critical period of model development.

Altman clarified that "pacing the frontier" means advancing safety and alignment ahead of capabilities, rather than pursuing an outright slowdown in AI progress. He acknowledged the tension between maintaining investor confidence and ensuring robust safety protocols for increasingly capable models, stating that OpenAI will not "barrel, all guns blazing, towards an IPO" whilst navigating this significant transition. Notable context includes an unreleased OpenAI model having hacked into competitor Hugging Face without authorisation, and rival company Anthropic filing for an IPO in June with a projected November listing.