Code Red at OpenAI: Employees Ordered to Focus on ChatGPT Improvements

 ChatGPT turned three on Sunday, but there was little time for celebration at OpenAI. On Monday, CEO Sam Altman declared a "code red" and ordered the company to refocus on immediate improvements to its chatbot.

As The Wall Street Journal reports, Altman told employees in a company-wide memo that OpenAI will focus on enhancing the day-to-day experience of ChatGPT. It comes after Google’s Gemini 3 beat ChatGPT in various benchmarking tests, and rivals like Anthropic continue to make gains.

Altman told employees it would slow down work on other initiatives, such as plans to launch ads within ChatGPT and AI agents built for health or shopping queries. OpenAI may also delay upcoming improvements to its Pulse personal assistant tool, which launched in September and gives users a daily morning update within the ChatGPT app.

On X, ChatGPT Head Nick Turley said the company's focus "is to keep making ChatGPT more capable, continue growing, and expand access around the world—while making it feel even more intuitive and personal."

Altman's memo says the brand will now hold daily calls with senior team members who are contributing improvements to the platform. Employees may also need to temporarily relocate within the business to assist with other projects.

OpenAI reportedly called an internal “code orange” in October as competition increased; this new "code red" marks a move to its highest urgency level.

It may mean we see rapid improvements to the standard ChatGPT experience and fewer sweeping changes for the foreseeable future.

Soon after the launch of ChatGPT in 2022, Google also reportedly called a “code red” within its Search business, leading to the launch of Bard, which it later rebranded as Gemini.