The landscape of artificial intelligence is shifting rapidly, putting OpenAI under significant pressure to maintain its competitive edge. CEO Sam Altman has reportedly issued a “code red” to the team, emphasizing the need to enhance their flagship offering, ChatGPT. This move signals that OpenAI’s previously dominant position is being challenged by formidable competitors such as Google and Anthropic.

According to reports from the Wall Street Journal and The Information, Altman has decided to postpone several projects, including advertisements, shopping and health agents, and the personal assistant named Pulse. The focus will instead shift to refining ChatGPT with improvements in speed, reliability, and customization, as well as expanding its question-answering capabilities.

The memo outlines a daily meeting schedule for the team responsible for the chatbot’s enhancements. Altman has also suggested temporary transfers within the company to accelerate progress.

This strategic pivot highlights a critical juncture for OpenAI, which is heavily investing in its expansion while seeking a sustainable path to profitability. Ironically, this mirrors Google’s response to ChatGPT’s launch, as they declared their own “code red” at that time. Google’s influence in the AI space is expanding, fueled by successful tools like the Nano Banana image model, and its latest AI model, Gemini 3, has outperformed rivals on numerous industry benchmarks.