OpenAI boss Sam Altman has reportedly declared a “code red” pushing employees to improve ChatGPT as the AI giant faces concerns that it is losing ground to rivals like Google.
Altman told employees in an internal memo Monday they should focus on upgrading the AI chatbot’s speed, reliability and ability to answer more questions while also allowing users to better personalize their experiences, according to The Wall Street Journal and news site the Information.
OpenAI will delay other planned initiatives, such as a rollout of more advertising on the chatbot and specific versions for health and shopping, while prioritizing ChatGPT’s improvement, the memo stated. Altman, 40, also nudged employees to temporarily transfer teams as part of the strategy.
The memo is the clearest sign to date that OpenAI is feeling the heat from Google, which rolled out an upgraded version of its Gemini AI model to strong reviews last month. Gemini 3 leapfrogged ChatGPT and other top chatbots in benchmark tests meant to measure their capabilities.
Meanwhile, OpenAI’s hundreds of billions of dollars in planned spending on AI data centers and other infrastructure have helped fuel fears on Wall Street about a possible bubble – with investors concerned that revenue justifying the spending has yet to materialize.
The Post has sought comment from OpenAI.
The firm expects an eye-popping operating loss of $74 billion this year and would need to hit $200 billion in annual revenue to turn a profit by 2030, according to internal projections cited by The Journal.
Aside from its work to improve ChatGPT, OpenAI is reportedly working on a new AI model codenamed “Garlic,” the Information reported.
OpenAI chief research officer Mark Chen reportedly told some colleagues that the model was “performing well” compared to rivals from Google and Anthropic, the report said.
OpenAI still maintains a lead over Google in terms of its user base. ChatGPT has more than 800 million weekly active users, while Google said Gemini’s monthly active user base was 650 million as of October.
Google CEO Sundar Pichai famously declared a “code red” in 2022 focused on speeding AI development after ChatGPT burst onto the scene.
The Post’s parent company News Corp has a content licensing deal with OpenAI.
