Sam Altman Declares 'Code Red' for OpenAI as Google Threatens to Overtake AI Race
OpenAI Chief Executive Sam Altman told employees Monday that the company is declaring a “code red” effort to improve the quality of ChatGPT and delaying other products as a result, according to an internal memo viewed by the Wall Street Journal.
The Wall Street Journal reports that OpenAI CEO Sam Altman has declared a “code red” within the company. According to an internal memo obtained by the Journal, Altman emphasized the need to enhance ChatGPT’s user experience, including personalization features, speed, reliability, and its ability to handle a broader range of queries. This companywide directive comes as rivals, particularly Google, have made significant strides in narrowing the gap with OpenAI’s leading position in the AI market.
Google’s release of its improved Gemini AI model last month, which outperformed OpenAI on industry benchmarks and led to a surge in the search giant’s stock price, has been a key factor in OpenAI’s heightened sense of urgency. The growing popularity of Google’s image generator, Nano Banana, has also contributed to the increasing pressure, with monthly active users jumping from 450 million in July to 650 million in October. Additionally, Anthropic has been gaining traction among business customers, further intensifying the competition.
As a result of this “code red” declaration, OpenAI will be postponing work on other initiatives, such as advertising, AI agents for health and shopping, and its personal assistant, Pulse. Altman encouraged temporary team transfers and announced daily calls for those tasked with improving ChatGPT. The company’s head of ChatGPT, Nick Turley, stated on X that the focus is now on expanding the chatbot while making it more intuitive and personal.
OpenAI’s financial position presents another challenge, as the company relies on constant fundraising to sustain its operations, unlike its main competitors, such as Google, which can fund investments through their massive revenues. Moreover, OpenAI’s aggressive spending compared to its startup rival, Anthropic, means that the company will need to generate around $200 billion in revenue to achieve profitability by 2030, based on its own financial projections.
Sam Altman’s renewed focus on ChatGPT isn’t the only “code red” of note in the AI space. It is also the name of the upcoming book by Breitbart News Social Media Director Wynton Hall, Code Red: The Left, the Right, China, and the Race to Control AI:
In Code Red, Breitbart social media director Wynton Hall exposes where that power hides, how it operates, how conservatives can navigate the AI political battlescape, avert its landmines, and turn peril into promise. AI decides what you see and what gets censored. It’s quietly rewiring our whole way of life. Jobs. Schools. Family. Church. Even national security. All of it will shock-test our civic order.
Inside Code Red, you will discover:
Why AI is wired for woke indoctrination—and how to resist it.
How elites plan to weaponize AI job losses to push dependency.
How America can beat China without becoming China.
How to prepare your kids for the blinding speed of AI disruption.
The new national security threats AI unleashes—and how we defend against them.
Why “AI girlfriends” are luring millions—and what it will take to preserve authentic human connection.
How AI will test faith and meaning—and why spiritual renewal may be its most surprising outcome.
Urgent, deeply researched, and written with page-turner elegance, Code Red is the conservative battle plan for the AI era. Either we wake up and fight back, or we lose everything that made America free.
Read more at the Wall Street Journal here.
Lucas Nolan is a reporter for Breitbart News covering issues of free speech and online censorship.
