OpenAI CEO declares ‘Code Red’ as Gemini 3 gains momentum

Sam Altman has issued a “code red” inside OpenAI as the company works to strengthen ChatGPT amid escalating competition from Google’s Gemini 3.

An internal memo reported by the Information quoted Altman telling staff the company had reached a “critical time” for its flagship chatbot. The warning followed the release of Gemini 3, which has posted strong benchmark results and unsettled OpenAI’s leadership.

Altman recently told employees the Google model could trigger “temporary economic headwinds” for the business. He said overall sentiment could remain difficult for a period.

ChatGPT has 800 million weekly users. However, Google’s profitable search operation gives it deep financial and data resources to support new AI tools.

Salesforce chief executive Marc Benioff said he switched to Gemini 3 after testing Google’s latest model. He wrote on X that he had used ChatGPT daily for three years but found Gemini 3 faster and stronger across reasoning, speed, images and video.

OpenAI is also postponing plans to introduce advertising in ChatGPT as it shifts more resources to product upgrades. The chatbot marked its third anniversary last month. Nick Turley, who leads ChatGPT, wrote on X that the team aimed to expand access and make the service more capable and personal.

OpenAI has raised major funding from SoftBank and Microsoft. Its valuation has climbed to $500bn, up from $157bn a year ago. The company is loss-making but expects more than $20bn in revenue this year, with Altman forecasting growth into the “hundreds of billion[s]” by 2030. The startup has committed $1.4tn in datacentre spending over eight years.

Altman said last month that running short of computing power posed a greater risk than having surplus capacity.

Apple is also responding to industry pressure. The company has appointed Microsoft executive Amar Subramanya as vice-president of AI, replacing John Giannandrea. Apple has moved more slowly on AI features than rivals such as Samsung. Improvements to Siri are now expected in 2026.