Human
SAN FRANCISCO: OpenAI's chief executive, Sam Altman, has declared a company-wide "code red" in a dramatic push to strengthen its flagship chatbot, ChatGPT, as competitors like Google's Gemini gain ground in the fast-moving artificial intelligence race.
The internal alert, revealed in a memo to employees, directs teams to prioritize improving ChatGPT's core performance, including speed, reliability and personalization, and pause or delay work on other initiatives such as advertising features, shopping agents and a personal assistant feature called Pulse.
The urgency reflects intensifying competition from Alphabet's Google, whose Gemini 3 model has rapidly expanded its user base and topped several benchmark tests, narrowing what once was OpenAI's clear lead. Gemini's monthly active users grew by about 200 million in three months, according to industry trackers, prompting concern about market share and momentum.
In the leaked memo, Altman wrote: "We are at a critical time for ChatGPT," underscoring the need to marshal engineering resources for rapid improvements.
The shift marks a reversal from earlier years when rivals, including Google, sounded their own alarms after ChatGPT's breakthrough debut. OpenAI's all-hands effort comes as the company also accelerates the rollout of its new GPT-5.2 model, designed to compete more directly with rival offerings.
OpenAI still claims a larger overall user base — with more than 800 million weekly ChatGPT users — but faces questions about its path to profitability and long-term dominance as tech giants pour resources into AI research and deployment.
