OpenAI Delays IPO - Sam Altman Knows OpenAI is DEAD

Eli the Computer Guy (0:00)

Coming from TechCrunch, OpenAI's Sam Altman says it would be ill-advised to go public.

Ahem, in 2026

We gotta make sure we put that in 2026 there, or people might think OpenAI isn't going to go public, it is going to go down in flames. Which, let's be honest, that is probably what is going to happen. So I think this is an interesting story, because there has been the big question about OpenAI and when they are going to go public. And one of the things that I find fascinating is the whole concept of the first mover advantage. So even in 2026, there is still the myth around the first mover advantage. The idea that the first person that gets into a particular market sector, if they're able to conquer that market sector, they will be able to own it and monopolize it and be able to gain all the money there is in the world, right? But as we have seen time and time and time again, that is just simply not how the technology world works. My favorite web browser was Lycos. My favorite smartphone was something called the Motorola Q. I had friends who used Friendster. I never used Friendster. Anyways, all of those things are probably products and companies that you have never heard of because Google came out, the iPhone came out. You know, there's Facebook and all of those types of things because that was the thing is the companies that came in originally, they proved the viability of the market, but in doing so, they more or less ran out of resources. And then the people that came in behind basically learned where not to spend their money, right?

SPEAKER_2 (1:51)

There's only so much money.

Eli the Computer Guy (1:53)

And so basically the people that come in behind you, they realize, okay, don't spend money on that, put more money into this, and then they have a successful business. And so one of the interesting things with OpenAI is there was the idea, there was the concept, right?

SPEAKER_2 (2:05)

They were the first mover.

Eli the Computer Guy (2:06)

They owned artificial intelligence. Remember, not that long ago, like a year and a half ago, Anthropic really was considered and also ran, if you look at how Sam Altman talked about Dario a year and a half ago, he looked at Dario being cute, being adorable. OpenAI was the AI company.

And Anthropic, you know, did automated coding and automated code review and that type of thing. I mean, they did some stuff in artificial intelligence, but are they really an AI company?

SPEAKER_3 (2:42)

And now we have Anthropic.

SPEAKER_4 (2:44)

Lordy, lordy, lordy.

Eli the Computer Guy (2:47)

Oh, God, it's hard to even say these numbers.

SPEAKER_2 (2:50)

They're trying to come out a $2 trillion valuation.

Eli the Computer Guy (2:53)

They're IPO maybe this month.

SPEAKER_4 (2:55)

I don't know, we're halfway through September.

Eli the Computer Guy (2:56)

Maybe this month, maybe next month, but it does look like Anthropic is going to IPO.

Oh, again, hard to say it. For somewhere around $2 trillion, we had SpaceX, SpaceX again, and they IPO'd off of AI. They didn't IPO off of launch capability. They didn't IPO off of their satellite-based ISP or any of that.

SPEAKER_4 (3:18)

They IPO'd off of AI.

Eli the Computer Guy (3:20)

They got a $1.77 trillion valuation. I just looked at them today. Lord, they are at $2.1 trillion of valuation.

And now we have OpenAI. We have OpenAI just kind of chugging along, and they are now the all-so-ran. Who may or may not IPO before they die?

SPEAKER_4 (3:47)

The miserable death. We all know they're going to die.

SPEAKER_3 (3:51)

So yeah, we take a look at this.

Eli the Computer Guy (3:52)

While OpenAI has filed confidentially for an IPO, the company will not be going public this year, according to CEO Sam Altman. So this is important. So we do know the CFO has been pushing for their IPO in 2027 Sam Altman was trying to pull the IPO into 2026 So it does look like their paperwork is such a disaster.

Even Sam Altman's charming manipulation. Can't get anybody to agree that the IPO should be pulled into 2026 Altman was interviewed recently by Fortune Editor Chief Alison Chantel amidst the fallout from the OpenAI hugging face hack, as well as broader discussions about AI safety. Chantel asked whether OpenAI still feels pressure to, quote, move really fast due to its IPO plans. Quote, we're not rushing into an IPO, Altman said, quote, I actually think that given everything happening with safety, right now would be an ill-advised moment to go public.