Amid ongoing viral 1980s retro look ChatGPT photo prompt trend, OpenAI is unlikely to go public this year as the artificial intelligence firm remains focused on tackling safety concerns surrounding the technology, CEO Sam Altman was quoted as saying by Fortune in an interview.
Altman described the current year as an “ill-advised moment” for an initial public offering (IPO), indicating that the company does not plan to list its shares until next year, according to a video of Fortune’s interview published on Saturday.
“I think it is unacceptable to be taking like a 10% chance of killing everybody by the end of the decade. I think in this moment we are entering a new era, and we’ll likely have to — as we’ve stepped into other eras in the past — act differently to ensure that we are doing something that will ensure the idea benefits all humanity, but also ensure that no one is taking risk anywhere close to that,” Altman said.
The comments come after OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, Anthropic PBC CEO Dario Amodei and xAI Corp. co-founder and chief Elon Musk on Saturday separately called for a slowdown in AI development, citing growing risks the technology could pose to humanity. Their remarks marked a rare point of agreement among the leaders of three major AI competitors.
Concerns over AI’s potential existential threat have increasingly entered mainstream debate, fueled partly by the high-profile resignation of an Anthropic researcher this week. The researcher raised concerns that the company was acting irresponsibly and warned that AI could “kill us all by the end of the decade.” Meanwhile, a current Anthropic employee wrote on X that the probability of such an outcome occurring within the next decade is “>10%.”
“I think a key principle that we should all agree on is that we cannot take actions that would risk losing control of the future to AI,” Altman told Fortune.
OpenAI IPO details
OpenAI confidentially submitted paperwork for an IPO in June, although the company has indicated that the timing of a potential listing has not yet been finalised.
Meanwhile, Anthropic is also gearing up for a public offering that could surpass SpaceX’s record-setting IPO earlier this year, which was valued at $86.2 billion, including the over-allotment option.
OpenAI did not reveal the size or terms of the proposed offering, saying that no timeline has been set yet. “It may be a while, as there are certain things we want to accomplish that are likely easier to do while remaining a private company,” the company said in a statement.
According to a Reuters report, the AI giant is aiming for a valuation of as much as $1 trillion in a stock market debut.
(With inputs from agencies)
Disclaimer: This story is for educational purposes only. Please consult with an investment advisor before making any investment decisions.
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