In a decisive internal move, OpenAI's Chief Executive Sam Altman has declared a 'code red' operational mode for the company, mandating a singular focus on improving its flagship product, ChatGPT. This urgent directive, detailed in a memo viewed by The Wall Street Journal and issued on Monday, December 2, 2025, comes as competitive pressure from tech giants like Google and rivals like Anthropic mounts, threatening OpenAI's once-commanding lead in the artificial intelligence race.
The 'Code Red' Mandate and Strategic Shifts
Altman's memo made it clear that enhancing the day-to-day user experience of ChatGPT is now the paramount priority, sidelining other initiatives. This includes work on advertising products, AI agents for health and shopping, and a personal assistant project known as Pulse. Employees have been encouraged to consider temporary team transfers to support this all-hands effort, with daily coordination calls established for teams responsible for ChatGPT's development.
The specific improvements targeted under this emergency push are better personalization features for users, increased speed and reliability, and expanding the chatbot's ability to answer a wider range of questions. Nick Turley, OpenAI's head of ChatGPT, echoed this focus on social media platform X, stating the goal is to make the chatbot feel "even more intuitive and personal."
Mounting Pressure from Google and Anthropic
The 'code red' declaration is a direct response to significant advancements by competitors. Altman identified Google as a primary concern, especially after the search giant released a new version of its Gemini AI model last month. This iteration reportedly surpassed OpenAI's models on key industry benchmarks, contributing to a surge in Google's stock price.
Google's user growth is also striking. Since the August launch of its 'Nano Banana' image generator, Gemini's monthly active users have climbed from 450 million in July to 650 million in October. Meanwhile, Anthropic is gaining traction, particularly among business customers, adding another layer of competitive pressure.
Financial Realities and Market Jitters
OpenAI's aggressive posture exists against a backdrop of steep financial challenges. The company is not yet profitable and relies on continuous fundraising to support its operations and massive future data-center investments, which run into hundreds of billions of dollars. This puts it at a disadvantage against rivals like Google, which can fund AI ventures from substantial existing revenues.
According to its own projections, OpenAI will need to grow its revenue to approximately $200 billion to achieve profitability by 2030. These financial pressures, combined with concerns over the timeline for returns on its huge investments, have recently caused unease in the stock market, affecting partners like Nvidia, Microsoft, and Oracle.
Balancing Act: Innovation, Safety, and User Experience
OpenAI has faced recent challenges in fine-tuning its models. The release of the GPT-5 model in August received mixed feedback, with some users criticizing its colder tone and occasional struggles with basic math and geography questions. An upgrade last month aimed to make it warmer and better at following instructions, highlighting the ongoing struggle to balance AI safety with user engagement.
Despite the challenges, Altman sought to reassure employees in the memo. He pointed to OpenAI's massive user base of over 800 million weekly ChatGPT users and its continued edge in cutting-edge research. He also claimed that a new reasoning model, slated for release the following week, was already ahead of Google's latest Gemini.
This 'code red' effort follows a previous 'code orange' initiative aimed at ChatGPT improvements. The company uses a three-tier colour-coded system—yellow, orange, and red—to signify escalating levels of urgency in problem-solving.
