The challenges facing the AI industry might be better managed in obedience to public shareholders. As private companies, AI firms operate with limited transparency, shielded from the discipline of public markets. This opacity can foster inefficiencies and misaligned incentives.

Going public would impose a level of accountability that private ownership does not. Public shareholders demand results, ethical stewardship, and long-term value. That pressure could steer AI development away from reckless experimentation and toward sustainable innovation.

The industry's current trajectory—dominated by a few private giants—concentrates power and risk. An IPO wave would democratize access, distribute gains, and subject AI to the same market forces that keep other sectors in check.

It's time for AI to grow up. Public markets offer the best path to maturity, transparency, and trust.