Sam Altman says Google is 'still a huge threat' and ChatGPT will be declaring code red 'maybe twice a year for a long time'
Despite billions of dollars in investment and backing from tech titans like Nvidia and even the likes of the UK government, the mighty force of Google still seemingly scares OpenAI, or at least that's according to CEO Sam Altman.
Recently, Altman took to Alex Kantrowitz's podcast, Big Technology, to talk about the AI company. The backdrop of this conversation between Sam Altman and Alek Kantrowitz is the 'code red' alert that Altman recently declared in response to Google's Gemini 3. OpenAI has had the lead for some time, yet Google's rapid improvement has seemingly worried the top dog of OpenAI. This is so important to the conversation that, barring introductions, it's actually how Kantrowitz sets up the conversation.
Altman says that code reds are actually quite common for the company. He says, "I think that it's good to be paranoid and act quickly when a potential competitive threat emerges". He also states, "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".
In fact, he argues that Google had a code red-style crisis on its hands when OpenAI launched ChatGPT, but didn't take OpenAI seriously enough to register it. "I think Google is still a huge threat, you know. Extremely powerful company."
Altman tells Kantrowitz that there was a code red when DeepSeek broke out onto the AI scene early this year, too. He says, "Everyone's doing code reds out here". Part of what Altman gestures at in this conversation is the idea that some may become loyal to certain companies, meaning one can lose out not only in technological but brand identity.
"I think people really want to use one AI platform. People use their phone at their personal life and they want to use the same kind of phone at work most of the time. We're seeing the same thing with AI."
However, Altman also gestures at the problems that come with making a single AI the only one you use. He says that personalisation is an "extremely sticky" thing right now. He says, oftentimes, users have "one magical experience with ChatGPT", and that becomes their main bot.
"Healthcare is a famous example where people put… a blood test into ChatGPT or put the symptoms in, and they figure out they have something, and they go to a doctor, and they get cured of something they couldn't figure out before. Those users are very sticky."
He argues that, for those who have 'unhealthy' relationships with their AI, "society will over time figure out how to about where people should set that dial, and then people have huge choice and set it in very different places."
Though personal freedom is part of the argument Altman makes for how far AI chatbots can develop relationships with users, it is hard not to see why an AI company may not want to cut off arguably some of the most loyal consumers on the market. This is especially true when the competition is fierce, and there are billions of dollars backing everyone in the AI arms race.