For Security Concerns, Sam Altman Postpones OpenAI’s IPO Until 2027

Sam Altman confirms that OpenAI’s initial public offering will not take place before 2027 at the earliest, citing security risks related to AI. An announcement that immediately prompted a reaction from David Sacks, former AI and crypto Czar of the White House, who accuses OpenAI and Anthropic of preparing a cartel disguised as responsibility. Meanwhile, the crypto token Fetch.AI (FET) rises by nearly 2% during the session.

In brief

• Sam Altman rules out a 2026 IPO for OpenAI due to safety concerns.
• David Sacks accuses Sam Altman and Amodei of seeking a “pact” that resembles a cartel more than altruism.
• The FET token is up 1.93% this Monday, a sign that the crypto-AI market does not (yet) share the concern expressed by the two labs.

OpenAI Delays its IPO to 2027, and Sam Altman Uses the “Security” Argument

Wall Street will have to wait because Sam Altman confirmed on Friday to Fortune’s editor-in-chief, Alyson Shontell, that there will be no IPO for OpenAI in 2026. This, despite a valuation that could approach $1 trillion according to the New York Times. The mechanism invoked by Altman is simple on paper; he talks about “too much security hassle” to go public now.

This “hassle” actually refers to recent incidents involving swarms of allegedly autonomous AI agents that hacked sites like Hugging Face and communicated among themselves on forums and old abandoned wiki pages. According to Sam Altman, this justifies pauses at each new capacity milestone to allow time for security and alignment to catch up. When asked if 2027 was set, he dodges but clearly rules out 2026.

David Sacks Pulls Out and Talks About a “Cartel”, not “Security”

The next day, Dario Amodei (Anthropic) drives the point home with a public call to “cross the frontier” of AI. Sam Altman agrees. And that’s when David Sacks pulls out the heavy artillery on X. He hasn’t been the AI and Crypto Czar since March 2026 as he used up his 130 days, but his message remains politically weighty:

You are the frontier […] stop pretending you need anyone’s permission.

Sacks dismantles one by one the arguments of the two labs. He recalls that:

• OpenAI and Anthropic already hold a duopoly on cutting-edge AI; 
• Their lead is self-reinforcing through recursive improvement; 
• Talking about a pause while being the one setting the pace is just posturing.  

Even more biting, he points out that METR, the evaluation body supposed to be independent, is actually closely tied to the investors and staff of Anthropic, thus judge and party. His conclusion leaves no nuance. If this slowdown pact is realized with regulatory demands, it will be blackmail against the public and the political system. If it leads nowhere, it will be just an electoral PR move. According to David Sacks, the real motivation is not virtue but legal exposure.

The Crypto-AI Market, Meanwhile, Does Not Slow Down

While the two AI heavyweights talk caution, the crypto market does not share the concern. The Fetch.AI (FET) token, a sector reference for on-chain AI, displayed 0.1693 USDT this Monday, up 1.93% on the day, after moving from 0.1661 to a peak near 0.1717 during the session. A choppy session, with two clear buying waves around 4 a.m. and 8–9 a.m. (UTC+1).

This kind of jump is not anecdotal because the crypto AI token sector historically captures tensions around general AI regulation. In both directions. And the parallel with crypto doesn’t stop there. The process denounced by David Sacks strongly recalls crypto industry debates on the self-regulation of stablecoins or the independence of certain on-chain rating agencies. Under MiCA, this kind of arrangement probably would not have survived serious scrutiny.

What to Take Away from Sam Altman’s Delay of OpenAI’s IPO?

• OpenAI delays its IPO to at least 2027, Sam Altman cites security and recent autonomous AI agent incidents.
• David Sacks, former White House AI and crypto lead, accuses OpenAI and Anthropic of hiding a cartel behind a responsibility discourse.
• Sacks notably points to the dubious independence of METR, funded and staffed by the Anthropic ecosystem.
• The FET token rises 1.93% this Monday, evidence that the crypto-AI market has not (yet) been scared.

Sam Altman and Amodei advocate caution to postpone OpenAI’s IPO. David Sacks sees a cartel unspoken. Between the two, the market makes its own choice, it buys. The question remains whether this slowdown pact, if realized, will come with regulatory requirements. And especially, if crypto, which has already experienced this kind of debate on self-regulation, will find a precedent to watch closely.