OpenAI CEO Sam Altman has declared a “code red” to accelerate improvements to ChatGPT, temporarily pausing work on other initiatives, according to sources familiar with the matter. In an internal memo sent Monday, Altman urged a “surge” in resources to enhance the chatbot, instructing staff to delay projects such as autonomous AI agents and advertising. While he did not specify which fixes were top priority, the move comes amid concerns that Google’s AI advancements could create short-term competitive challenges for OpenAI.
The decision highlights the intense rivalry in the AI industry, as companies strive to demonstrate profitability to investors. Google recently launched its Gemini 3 model, praised for advanced reasoning, coding, and niche task performance, while OpenAI unveiled its first AI-powered browser in October.
Some OpenAI employees are being temporarily reassigned to focus on ChatGPT, joining cross-team calls to improve features, user experience, AI behavior, and image-generation capabilities. Altman also referenced a new AI model, code-named “Garlic,” which performs strongly on coding and reasoning tasks. ChatGPT now reaches 800 million weekly users, compared with Google Gemini’s 650 million.
