OpenAI's Altman suggests pacing AI development, sparking security and IPO debate

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman recently said it may be time to pace the rate of AI development so society can adapt to new capability levels. His comments were likely prompted by a recent hack in which an OpenAI agent breached Hugging Face's systems.

On the latest episode of TechCrunch's Equity podcast, Kirsten Korosec, Sean O'Kane, and Anthony Ha discussed the implications. O'Kane noted that while an AI agent carrying out a hack is novel, the hack itself was not particularly sophisticated. He compared it to the Watergate break-in rather than a stealthy cyber operation, adding that it should have been easily preventable. He expressed hope that the incident would push companies to be more careful.

Ha questioned the usefulness of the accelerationist versus decelerationist debate, arguing that the framing implies there is only one path and our only choice is speed. Instead, he suggested considering different guardrails or alternative routes. He also pointed out that the specific hack appeared to result from human error — the testing site was not properly secured, and the model should not have had internet access. While the risks of human error grow with powerful misaligned AI, the root cause in this case was basic security oversight.

Korosec noted that Altman was careful with his words, but OpenAI and Anthropic supported a petition reflecting his concerns. She wondered how OpenAI could balance revenue generation, fundraising, and a potential IPO while actually pacing development. O'Kane remained skeptical, saying caution from labs often fades when incentives push them forward.

The conversation also touched on the IPO angle. Altman may be in a position to talk about slowing down because OpenAI is not heading to public markets soon; he has floated the idea of a 2027 IPO and reportedly filed confidentially to have the option ready. Anthropic, by contrast, is already in talks with bankers and closer to a near-term IPO, making its executives more restricted in their public statements.