OpenAI CEO Sam Altman has declared a “code red,” redirecting internal resources to accelerate improvements to ChatGPT, which will delay work on other projects, according to sources familiar with the matter. In an internal memo on Monday, Altman called for a “surge” to enhance the chatbot and asked employees to postpone progress on initiatives such as autonomous AI agents and advertising. While specific fixes were not detailed, the move follows Altman’s warning that Google’s AI resurgence could create short-term economic pressures for OpenAI.
The shift highlights the intensifying competition among AI developers to demonstrate profitability to investors. Google’s Gemini 3, praised for reasoning, coding, and niche task performance, has ramped up the rivalry. OpenAI responded in October with its AI-powered web browser.
Nick Turley, head of ChatGPT, emphasized prioritizing the chatbot to make it more capable, intuitive, and widely accessible. Temporary team transfers and daily coordination calls are part of the effort, focusing on user experience, AI behavior, and image-generation features. OpenAI is also developing a promising new model, code-named “Garlic,” to improve coding and reasoning capabilities.
