OpenAI’s leadership has cited the need to advance AI safety and alignment work ahead of any public listing, driving trader consensus toward a 2027 timeline rather than 2026. CEO Sam Altman stated in a September 2026 Fortune interview that a 2026 IPO would be “ill-advised” given safety priorities for highly capable large language models, confirming CFO Sarah Friar’s earlier August comments to employees. The company confidentially filed its S-1 in June with an original September target but has since pursued additional private funding rounds at valuations exceeding $1 trillion while reporting a roughly $50 billion annualized revenue run rate. Rival Anthropic’s planned November debut and ongoing model development benchmarks add competitive pressure, though OpenAI’s private capital access reduces urgency for an immediate public market entry.