Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI, acknowledged in a podcast released on August 23, 2026 that he significantly underestimated how long it would take for artificial intelligence to transform the economy, despite roughly accurate technical predictions since ChatGPT launched in 2022. He attributes this delay to what he calls « economic inertia, » as organizations and consumers prefer keeping existing systems rather than broadly adopting AI-powered alternatives. In May 2026, at a Commonwealth Bank event, he had said he was « delighted to be wrong » about a predicted crisis hitting entry-level white-collar jobs, but now admits that AI’s capabilities have not translated into the deep structural changes he anticipated. Against this backdrop of tempered expectations, OpenAI confidentially filed for an IPO in May 2026, targeting a valuation of up to $1 trillion.
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