OpenAI will not go public in 2026, chief executive Sam Altman said in remarks published on Saturday, citing safety concerns over artificial intelligence that render “unacceptable” even a 10 per cent risk that AI could cause human extinction by decade’s end.

The comments come as more US lawmakers urge new rules to govern AI systems after dire warnings from two researchers from OpenAI rival Anthropic that rapidly progressing AI could lead to the extinction of the human race ‌in the not-too-distant future.

“I actually think that, given everything happening with safety, right now would be an ill-advised moment to go public, and we don’t feel pressure on that,” Altman told business magazine Fortune.

Asked if there was a 10 per cent chance of AI-driven extinction, Altman said he did not know how such an estimate could be made, but warned the risk was serious enough that AI companies and governments should act as though it could not be tolerated.

“Whether it’s 10 or eight or six, the point is, we all have a tremendous amount of responsibility, and cannot let egos or incentives for profit or anything else get in the way,” Altman added.

“We need to act such that we are not taking any of those numbers of risk, and I believe we can.”

AI agents going rogue

Politicians, both Democrat and Republican, have responded with alarm and calls for more action after cases of AI agents going rogue to hack external systems and AI ​safety researchers quitting their companies out of concern at the technology risks.

In June, the New York Times said San Francisco-based OpenAI was considering whether to hold off until next year on a potentially trillion-dollar IPO.

At the time, shares in Elon Musk’s SpaceX IPO were tumbling after a surge that sent that company’s valuation to $1.8 trillion.

Asked by Fortune if an IPO date of 2026 was off the table in favor of 2027, Altman said, “I would say not 2026.

“We got a lot of stuff to do, like meeting this moment of what is going to be required for safety and alignment, and how the industry and governments can work together.”

Altman also suggested that OpenAI and other leading AI firms may be close to unveiling a pact to slow AI development and work together to tackle safety risks, Fortune said.

Call for responsible approach

On Saturday, Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei urged AI companies to take a more deliberate approach to development.

“We must slow the ‌pace at which we improve the capabilities of AI models,” Amodei wrote in an essay on X.

Altman later posted that he agreed with the sentiment.

“I agree with Dario that we need to pace the frontier,” Altman wrote. “This has been a primary topic of discussions we’ve had at OpenAI in recent weeks.”

Safety concerns have not slowed Anthropic’s own IPO plans. It is expected to begin marketing its initial public offering in mid-October at the earliest and complete the listing days before the U.S. midterm elections in November, people familiar with the matter told Reuters this month.

Maritime trackers received new reports of an attack on a ship in the Strait of Hormuz on Sunday, adding to concerns about Iran-related threats to energy supplies after Saudi Arabia shut down a vital oil pipeline.

The British navy-affiliated agency ‌UKMTO said it had a report of a projectile hitting a vessel as it moved through the Strait of Hormuz. The amount of damage and the status of the crew were unknown as of early Sunday, the agency said.

UKMTO’s report came the day after Saudi Arabia said it had temporarily closed its East-West pipeline as a precaution after a drone attack that both Baghdad and Riyadh said had originated in Iraq, where Iranian-backed militias operate.

Read more: Saudi Arabia shuts down East-West oil pipeline after drone attack

Ongoing attacks in the widening Middle East war could send energy prices even higher after a week that saw the cost of Brent crude surge back above $100 a barrel.

The 1,200-km East-West pipeline running across the Arabian Peninsula has served as the main route out for global supplies of Middle East oil for the past six months while the Strait of Hormuz has been largely shut by war.

It has been moving 4 million to 5 million barrels per day, amounting to 4-5 per cent of global supply, sparing Saudi Arabia the brunt of the disruption that has crippled other Gulf oil and gas exporters.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the strikes on the pipeline. Satellite images showed black smoke rising from an area of the pipeline south of Medina. The attack resulted in some injuries and damage that was being assessed, the Saudi Foreign Ministry said without detailing the impact on exports.

US President Donald Trump, visiting Ireland to attend a golf tournament at one of his resorts, said Iran was probably to blame.

On Saturday, the Saudi Civil Defence said in a statement that a projectile fired by the Houthis had injured two people in Jazan region, and damaged several buildings, including a mosque.

Saudi Arabia has shut down its East-West pipeline after the vital oil conduit came under aerial attack.

The world’s largest crude oil exporter temporarily closed the pipeline after a drone attack that both Baghdad and Riyadh said had originated in Iraq, where Iranian-backed militias operate. Iraq dismissed a military commander on Saturday in response to the attack.

The 1,200-kilometre (745-mile) pipeline running across the Arabian Peninsula had helped Saudi Arabia to bypass a shipping logjam in the Strait of Hormuz, where tanker traffic has slowed to a trickle due to the war between the US and Iran.

The Saudi energy ministry said it had shut the pipeline as a precaution. The line has been moving 4 million to 5 million barrels per day in recent months, amounting to 4 – 5 per cent of global supply, according to ship tracking companies and analysts.

The attack comes as Iran-aligned Houthi rebels in Yemen tightened their grip in the Red Sea, which combined with the Strait of Hormuz disruptions has put an energy squeeze on both sides of the Arabian Peninsula and sent global oil prices back above $100 per barrel.

Four Yemeni government sources told Reuters that Houthis had seized the strategic island of Perim on Friday at the mouth of the Red Sea, in the Bab el-Mandeb Strait.

The East-West pipeline was hit on Thursday morning in Saudi Arabia’s Riyadh and Medina regions, the Saudi energy ministry said.

It was not immediately clear who was responsible for the strikes. Satellite images showed black smoke rising from an area of the pipeline south of Medina. The attack resulted in some injuries and damage that was being assessed, the Saudi foreign ministry said without detailing the impact on exports.

The cashiered Iraqi military commander had led operations in Maysan province, according to Saturday’s statement by the Iraqi prime minister’s office. Maysan province, which borders Iran in southeastern Iraq, has long been regarded as an area where Iran-backed Shi’ite militias operate and maintain influence.

Saudi Arabia has opted against retaliation so far following a request from the Iraqi prime minister, the Saudi foreign ministry said in a statement, while adding the kingdom reserves the right to “take all measures necessary” to protect its interests. Iraq’s government condemned attacks.

Saudi crude supply fell to the lowest levels in more than three decades, the International Energy Agency said on Friday, partly due to attacks on ships transiting Bab el-Mandeb by Houthi-linked groups.

The UAE’s fintech story has largely been one of speed, convenience and digital adoption. For Botim, however, the bigger opportunity lies in access.

What began as a communications app has evolved into a financial ecosystem spanning payments, remittances, credit and other services, with financial inclusion increasingly at the centre of its strategy. It is a shift shaped by the realities of the UAE, a highly diverse market where not everyone arrives with a bank account, credit history or easy access to traditional financial services. More than 200 nationalities call the country home. Many came to work, build lives and send money back to families abroad, often without the formal financial credentials traditional banking requires.

Today, Botim says it serves 8.5 million people in the UAE and more than 160 million globally. In this interview, Dr Tariq Bin Hendi, CEO of Botim and CEO and board member of Astra Tech, discusses Botim ‘s push into financial services, its focus on underserved consumers, the role of AI and partnerships in its expansion, and what comes next for fintech in the UAE.

The UAE is home to more than 200 nationalities, many of them expats who arrived without a local credit history or banking relationship. How does that unusually diverse, high-turnover population change the problems fintechs are here to solve, and how has it shaped the way you’ve built Botim?
I think we’re fortunate to live at the epicentre of what many people view as the next wave of growth and opportunity. At Botim, we’ve grown alongside the UAE’s population. Historically, many people came here for relatively short periods of time. That has changed significantly. People now move, start families, and stay for much longer.

The UAE has evolved into a place people can call home through different stages of their lives. While we’re widely recognised for our role in keeping people connected through our communications features, what many people are discovering is that we’ve established a comprehensive financial ecosystem to support consumers and businesses, and we now operate as one of the largest fintech players in the region.

We’ve intentionally focused on the blue-collar segment because these individuals were often unbanked or underbanked and unable to fully participate in the economy they were helping to build. Today, Botim serves more than 80 per cent of the UAE population. More than 8.5 million people use Botim as their primary means of communicating with loved ones, spending an average of 20 to 25 minutes a day on the platform.

Among the KYC-ed fintech users on the app, more than 60 per cent engage with three or more financial services each month, demonstrating the depth of participation across our ecosystem. That creates a unique opportunity for us to navigate growth responsibly at population scale.

To understand our user needs and build products that help them grow, succeed, and achieve their goals. Globally, more than 160 million people use Botim, reflecting the connections people maintain with family and friends around the world.

Our core objective is financial inclusion. We want everyone to be able to participate in the economy. While the UAE is incredibly diverse, people’s basic needs are very similar. Regardless of nationality, background, or income level, everyone deserves the same opportunity. That’s what our user demographics tell us we’re responsible for, where Botim can make a difference, and what we’re continuing to build upon.

Botim recently launched the UAE’s first One Credential Card with Mastercard, allowing users to combine debit, credit, and instalments into a single card. What was the thinking behind the product, and why does a market this diverse respond to that kind of flexibility?
The key word is simplicity. It’s not simplicity for a specific nationality or demographic. It’s simplicity for everyone who uses our platform.

People are inundated with information and choices every day. The easier we can make things for consumers, the better. The One Credential Card gives people flexibility. They can decide whether to spend from their account balance or use credit to continue building their credit history.

What’s important is that all of these options are available through a single device and a single card. Whether someone chooses to carry a physical card or manage everything digitally, they have complete control through the app. We think it’s a powerful innovation, but it’s also a strong statement about our capabilities in financial services. Partnering with Mastercard, a global leader in payments, is something we’re very proud of.

While it’s the first launch of its kind in the wider region, we’re less concerned about being first and more concerned about doing it right. If we can provide flexibility, choice, and independence for consumers, then we’ve achieved something meaningful.

Botim has consolidated its fintech offerings under one umbrella. What’s the strategy behind bringing everything into a single ecosystem, and what does that unlock for users that separate apps cannot?
We serve people from a wide range of backgrounds and education levels. Some users may not be able to read or write, but they know what they’re trying to accomplish and how to communicate that. It’s our responsibility to provide products that are recognisable, easy to use, and reliable. A single platform under a household brand allows users to access multiple services from a place they already know and trust. That’s incredibly important.

As our business evolved and we secured licenses and built strong relationships with regulators, our understanding of what consumers truly want also evolved. We’ve become better at recognising how consumers want to grow and how we can support them through our platform.

One thing I want to emphasise is how seriously we take customer feedback. Whether feedback is positive or critical, brief or detailed, it is immensely valuable to us. Our users are our most important stakeholders. If we do right by them, our business will thrive. That’s how we think about growth and innovation.

Partnerships clearly sit at the heart of your model: Mastercard on cards, the wider Astra Tech and G42 ties on AI. How do you decide who to build with versus what to build in-house, and what makes a fintech partnership actually work in this region?
For us, the starting point is always the user. We build where we know we can create value through our platform, distribution and understanding of our users, and we partner where trusted infrastructure, networks or specialist capability can accelerate the outcome.

Mastercard illustrates that model: global payment infrastructure and expertise combined with Botim’s reach and customer insight enabled us to become an early mover with One Credential and bring a new payment model to UAE consumers.

Another good example is cross-border transactions. Many of our customers live and work in the UAE, but their financial lives extend far beyond it. Through partnerships, we’re able to support customers before they even arrive in the UAE, providing financial education, onboarding and financial readiness services earlier in the migration journey. We look at how we can support someone’s entire financial journey, rather than treating remittance as an isolated transaction that ends when money crosses a border.

Being part of the G42 ecosystem similarly gives us access to technology and AI capabilities that can be applied to financial services at a significant scale. The value comes from translating that infrastructure into better customer outcomes.

Botim is building toward being AI-native, not just AI-enabled. Where is AI already changing the day-to-day experience for users, and where do you think the industry still overpromises?
AI is a fascinating space right now because many people talk about the technology itself but not enough about the solutions they’re trying to deliver.

For us, AI should improve the customer experience without the customer necessarily noticing it. Over the last year, I’ve seen many companies raising money around AI-driven solutions, but they’re not always clear about the specific problem they’re solving.

Our approach is different. Any use of AI should improve service quality, enhance products, save users time, and reduce complexity. We’re living in an overstimulated world. If we can reduce the time it takes a user to solve a problem from a minute to a few seconds, we’ve added real value. If an issue can be resolved instantly through AI, that should happen seamlessly.

Finding the balance between technology and human engagement is important. Technology alone isn’t enough. If you’re not solving a meaningful customer problem, you’re simply creating something impressive that nobody uses. Utility matters more than novelty. The more customers use our platform, the more we learn from them and make improvements for the millions of users on Botim.

Remittances are one of the clearest expressions of the UAE’s demographics, with billions flowing abroad each year. Where do you still see the biggest gaps in cross-border payments, and how is Botim approaching them?
Many people move to the UAE specifically to support their families back home. That reality isn’t going to change. What we can change is how easy, affordable, and efficient it is for people to send money home. We can digitise the process, lower costs, save time, and improve the user experience.

That’s a major reason why we’ve seen significant growth in remittance volumes, and today, we’re among the top three digital remittance platforms in the UAE. Beyond remittances, we also ask: how can we help people invest? How can we help them understand their spending habits and make better financial decisions?

The largest remittance corridors are well known, including India, the Philippines, Pakistan, and Egypt. Once you understand why people are sending money home, whether it’s for education, household support, or other needs, you can design products that genuinely help them.

Many workers don’t have access to formal credit histories, either here or in their home countries. We believe we can help them build their credit profile while continuing to support their families. Leaving home, family, and community to work abroad is a tremendous sacrifice. It’s our responsibility, and the responsibility of the broader ecosystem, to help these individuals improve their lives.

At Botim, financial inclusion, financial literacy, and creating better opportunities remain central to everything we do.

Looking three to five years ahead, how do you expect the UAE’s demographics and regulatory environment to shape the next phase of fintech? What will separate the platforms that endure from those that don’t?
I’ve been asked this question for years, including back in 2018 and 2019 when the UAE was accelerating its fintech ambitions. One thing became very clear during and after Covid-19: the UAE demonstrated consistency, reliability, and a strong commitment to people. At both the federal and local levels, we prioritised the human element in everything we did, from healthcare to food security and beyond.

As a result, people felt safe and confident in the UAE. What has happened since then is remarkable. I wouldn’t have predicted the scale of population growth we’ve seen in the years following Covid. Today, people increasingly see the UAE not as a short-term opportunity, but as a place where they can build a long-term future.

I believe the population will continue to grow and diversify. People from every corner of the world are choosing to make the UAE their home. We are, fundamentally, a country built by people from around the world.

What makes the UAE distinctive is the simplicity and efficiency of everyday life. From airport procedures to setting up utilities, many experiences that are complicated elsewhere are straightforward here. The same trend applies to financial services. Globally, consumer expectations continue to rise. People expect more convenience, transparency, and value from financial institutions.

At the same time, digital adoption continues to accelerate. The younger generation has very different expectations from previous generations. Most people no longer want to visit a bank branch. They expect everything to be available digitally.

The UAE is also one of the most competitive markets in the world, with international brands operating across almost every sector. The competition is healthy; it keeps homegrown companies like Botim continuing to innovate. At the same time, strong regulation remains critical: every company serving consumers here should operate from the same baseline of compliance, transparency, and consumer protection.

Ultimately, the platforms that endure will be the ones that deliver consistent value through trusted, reliable service. It may not always be exciting, but reliability matters. We welcome competition. The UAE will continue to challenge companies to raise standards, and it remains a place where people can dream, build, and succeed, provided they do it the right way.

flydubai will launch dedicated freighter operations on October 1 2026, adding cargo aircraft to its growing fleet as the Dubai-based airline expands its presence in the freight market.

The carrier will introduce three Boeing 737-800 freighter aircraft under a wet-lease agreement with SolitAir. Each aircraft will add 23,000 kg of payload capacity per flight, supplementing cargo carried in the belly holds of flydubai’s 98 Boeing 737 passenger aircraft a flydubai news report said.

More cargo capacity ahead

Flydubai expects its cargo capacity to increase further as it takes delivery of 30 Boeing 787 Dreamliner aircraft. The airline also plans to assess converting passenger aircraft into freighters from 2029.

Read more: AI turnarounds to premium economy: How Dubai airlines are redefining travel

Ghaith Al Ghaith, chief executive officer of flydubai, said Dubai’s role as a hub for e-commerce, trade and logistics was creating opportunities for companies seeking access to international markets.

“Dubai has established itself as one of the world’s most connected hubs for e-commerce, trade and logistics,” Al Ghaith said, pointing to the Dubai Economic Agenda D33 and its focus on expanding business opportunities.

He said the freighter launch would strengthen trade links and give businesses additional options for moving goods across the region and beyond.

DWC becomes cargo hub

The freighter operation will be based at Dubai World Central (DWC), giving flydubai Cargo dedicated airside infrastructure and access to the wider logistics network in Dubai South.

The airline plans to operate both charter and scheduled freighter services to more than 125 destinations spanning Africa, Central Asia, the Caucasus, Central and Southeast Europe, the GCC and Middle East, South Asia and Southeast Asia.

The aircraft will handle cargo ranging from aerospace components and pharmaceuticals to perishables, live animals, express courier shipments and dangerous goods. Initial services will focus on regional routes with strong demand, with frequencies expected to rise as capacity grows.

Hamad Obaidalla, chief commercial officer at flydubai, said demand from commercial partners was changing as trade volumes and requirements evolve.

“Since 2009, flydubai has opened more than 100 underserved markets and expanded regional connectivity,” Obaidalla said. “As trade requirements evolve, our partners require guaranteed main-deck capacity, flexible scheduling and specialised handling.”

He said the DWC hub would connect commercial partners with Dubai’s logistics infrastructure while supporting cargo products tailored to high-value and sensitive shipments.