In the AI race, the tide is turning and the pressure is on OpenAI. CEO Sam Altman reportedly announced a “code red” on Monday, urging employees to improve its flagship ChatGPT product, a sign that the startup’s once unassailable lead is shrinking as competitors like Google and Anthropic close in.
In a note provided by Wall Street Journal AND InformationAltman said the company will delay initiatives such as advertising, shopping and health agents, and the Pulse personal assistant to focus on improving ChatGPT. This includes core features such as greater speed and reliability, better personalization and the ability to answer more questions, he said.
The memo said those tasked with improving the chatbot would be called daily, and Altman encouraged short-lived team transfers to speed up development.
This newfound urgency illustrates an inflection point for OpenAI as it spends hundreds of billions of dollars to finance growth and seeks a path to future profitability. This is also a full-circle moment in the AI race. Of particular concern is Google, which declared its own “code red” after the appearance of ChatGPT. Google’s AI user base is growing – thanks to the success of popular tools like the Nano Banana image model – and Google’s latest AI model, Gemini 3, has outperformed the competition in many industry benchmarks and popular metrics.