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Several major companies – including Elon Musk’s SpaceX, Sam Altman’s OpenAIAnd competitive anthropic – Eyeing a huge start in the stock market as soon as next year, everyone is competing for it Get an Astronomical Appraisal North of $100 billion.
In late October, OpenAI was rumored to be laying the groundwork for a massive IPO that would push its value to $1 trillion, further raising the stakes as the AI industry begins to struggle to convince investors of the technology’s long-term value.
However, the mercurial Altman is playing it up perfectly. On Thursday’s episode of tech journalist Alex Kantrowitz’s “Big Technology Podcast,” the billionaire didn’t even attempt to show excitement at the prospect of far greater scrutiny and regulatory oversight as an openly traded company.
“Am I excited to be CEO of a public company?” He said. “Zero percent.”
“Am I excited about OpenAI becoming a public company?” He added. “In some ways, I am, and in some ways I think that would be really annoying.”
At the same time, the CEO stopped short of disclosing plans for a 2026 IPO.
“I don’t know,” he said cryptically. “It will be too late for us to go public.”
However, his comments highlight long-standing questions over the AI industry. Experts have long warned about an AI bubble that could burst – potentially taking the rest of the economy with it.
Even as a privately held company, OpenAI is already under considerable scrutiny, especially as competition encroaches on its early lead. Altman recently announced “Code Red” in a memo to staff, urging them to improve ChatGPT at the expense of delays to other projects.
And according to the CEO, it definitely won’t be the last time either.
“I think it’s good not to panic and take immediate action when a potential competitive threat emerges,” Altman told Kantrowitz. “My guess is we’ll be doing this once or twice a year for a long time, and it’s really part of making sure we win in our region.”
“I think Google is still a big threat, you know,” Altman admitted. “Extremely powerful company.”
We can only guess how the market will react when OpenAI goes public. But given the enormous amount of pressure placed on the company, it’s no surprise that Altman is unhappy with the fortune he’s made for himself.
All eyes are already on the company as the AI industry continues to shift and change wildly as it attempts to justify its skyrocketing buzz — and going public will only increase the pressure.
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