Sam Altman says he has ‘zero interest’ in being a public company CEO, flags OpenAI’s eventual IPO reality

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman has said he has no desire to lead a publicly listed company, even as he acknowledged that the artificial intelligence firm may eventually have to pursue an initial public offering to fund its rapid expansion and mounting capital requirements.

Speaking on the Big Technology Podcast, Altman made it clear that the idea of becoming a public company CEO does not appeal to him personally. “Am I excited to be a public company CEO? 0%,” he said, while also admitting that OpenAI’s growth trajectory makes staying private indefinitely increasingly difficult.

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Altman described his position on a potential listing as conflicted. While he sees value in allowing public investors to participate in wealth creation, he also pointed to the operational constraints and pressures that come with being publicly traded. “In some ways I am excited for OpenAI to be a public company, and in some ways I think it’d be really annoying,” he said.

The OpenAI chief emphasised that practical considerations, rather than personal preference, are driving discussions around an IPO. According to Altman, the company will require significant capital to remain competitive in the global AI race and will eventually cross shareholder limits that make a public listing more likely.

Founded in 2015, OpenAI has seen its profile surge since the launch of ChatGPT in 2022 and now serves hundreds of millions of users weekly. The company has also entered into large-scale partnerships with major technology players, underlining the scale of investment required to sustain its ambitions.

Recent reports suggest OpenAI has begun early-stage preparations for an IPO, with potential regulatory filings being considered as early as the second half of 2026 and a possible listing in 2027. The company is reportedly being valued between $830 billion and $1 trillion, according to various estimates.

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OpenAI recently completed a restructuring that shifted it closer to a conventional for-profit model, while retaining nonprofit oversight. The move reduced Microsoft’s ownership stake and opened the door for broader cloud partnerships. The company has also intensified its competitive push after issuing an internal “code red” following rival AI launches, accelerating work on its core models, including the recent release of GPT-5.2.