OpenAI CEO Sam Altman has reignited debate in the global tech space after acknowledging that Google is still a major threat and remains one of the most powerful competitive forces in artificial intelligence.
In a recent interview with Alex Kantrowitz, host of big technology podcast, Altman noted that despite OpenAI’s rapid growth and the widespread adoption of tools like ChatGPT, Google’s deep resources, research strength, and dominance in search and data give it a lasting edge in shaping the future of AI.
Three years ago, Google sounded a “Code Red” over ChatGPT following its launch and widespread adoption with CEO Sundar Pichai warning it could threaten the future of Search. Now, in an interesting twist of events, Altman is sounding that same alarm.
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Earlier this month, the OpenAI CEO declared an internal “code red” following Google’s release of Gemini 3, a move that underscores the growing intensity of competition in the global artificial intelligence race.
In an internal memo to employees, Altman said he was declaring a “Code Red” to marshal more resources toward improving ChatGPT as competitive pressure from Google and other AI rivals intensifies. As part of the shift, he said, OpenAI will delay other initiatives, including its advertising plans. “We are at a critical time for ChatGPT,” Altman wrote.
Recall that last month, Google ushered in a new era with the launch of Gemini 3, an AI model that the tech giant claims is its most intelligent yet. This comes two years after the search giant launched the first version of Gemini to compete against OpenAI’s GPT models.
The company says Gemini 3 represents a new level of reasoning, context awareness, and multimodal understanding, the kind of intelligence that actually plans and builds responses, and adapts as it goes.
In line with the launch of Gemini 3, Google recently rolled out Gemini 3 flash, its latest model with frontier intelligence built for speed that helps everyone learn, build, and plan anything faster. With this release, the company announced that it is making Gemini 3’s next-generation intelligence accessible to everyone across Google products.
Amid Google’s Gemini 3 comeback and an increasingly fierce frontier AI model releases, Sung Cho, Managing Director at Goldman Sachs Asset Management says Google has taken the lead in the eyes of investors over OpenAI.
The tech giant is taking AI and putting it into all its products such as Search, Gmail, Maps, etc. This strategy marks a significant shift from AI being a standalone feature to becoming the backbone of how Google’s products function and interact with users.
At the center of this transformation is Gemini, Google’s flagship AI model, which now powers experiences across consumer and enterprise tools. Rather than simply responding to commands, these AI-powered products are designed to understand context, anticipate user needs, and assist with complex tasks in a more conversational and intuitive way
Interestingly, Altman also made a shocking revelation on the “Big Technology Podcast” that OpenAI has entered emergency mode multiple times in response to competitive threats and expects to continue doing so as rivals close in.
“It’s good to be paranoid and act quickly when a potential competitive threat emerges,” he said. “My guess is we’ll be doing these once maybe twice a year for a long time, and that’s part of really just making sure that we win in our space,” he added.
He admitted that during the launch of DeepSeek, there was a declaration of code red back then. Released on 20 January 2025, DeepSeek-R1 surpassed ChatGPT as the most downloaded freewareapp on the iOS App Store in the United States by 27 January.
DeepSeek’s competitive performance at relatively minimal cost had been recognized as potentially challenging the global dominance of American AI models.
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman has acknowledged that staying ahead in the fast-moving artificial intelligence race will require constant innovation, revealing that OpenAI will be consistently rolling out updates to ChatGPT to maintain its competitive edge.
According to him, the pace of progress in AI has accelerated dramatically, with major technology companies rapidly improving their models and integrating AI deeply into their products. In response, OpenAI’s strategy is no longer built around infrequent, massive releases alone, but on continuous improvements that enhance ChatGPT’s capabilities, reliability, and usefulness over time.
This comes as ChatGPT is reported to have recently hit a new milestone of $3 billion in worldwide consumer spending on mobile as of this week, according to estimates from app intelligence provider Appfigures. This figure represents the total spending on iOS and Android devices since the app’s launch in May 2023, when it first arrived, then only on iOS.
In addition, ChatGPT on Wednesday launched its own app store of sorts, which the company suggests will be monetized in some way in the future, its blog post noted.
Outlook
Looking ahead, the global AI landscape is poised to become even more competitive and fast-moving, with OpenAI and Google emerging as the two dominant forces shaping the next phase of artificial intelligence.
Altman’s repeated “code red” declarations signal that the era of comfortable leads is over; leadership in AI will now depend on speed, scale, and relentless iteration.
For OpenAI, the outlook centers on continuous innovation. By committing to frequent ChatGPT updates and temporarily shelving non-core initiatives like advertising, the company is clearly prioritizing product excellence and user experience.