In a stunning reversal of the technology industry's hierarchy, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman has declared a “Code Red,” freezing the company's monetization roadmap to desperately refocus on product quality.
OpenAI Pauses Ads, Shopping, And Other ‘Side Projects’
The emergency directive comes exactly three years after Alphabet Inc.‘s (NASDAQ:GOOG) (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Google issued its own “Code Red” following the 2022 launch of ChatGPT, signaling that the hunter has officially become the hunted.
According to leaked internal memos, OpenAI is immediately pausing its most anticipated revenue drivers—including the integration of search ads, “agentic” shopping features, and the “Pulse” personal assistant.
These resources are being aggressively redirected to fix latency and reasoning deficits in ChatGPT. The panic stems from the explosive rise of Google's Gemini 3, released on Nov. 18, which has rapidly eroded OpenAI’s market share.
Industry reports confirm that Gemini's “Deep Think” reasoning capability is now outperforming GPT-5, while Google's lightweight “Nano Banana” media model went viral in August, driving a massive user migration.
Google’s Gemini Gains Market Share
Data confirms the severity of the threat: Google's monthly active users for Gemini surged from 450 million in July to over 650 million by October 2025.
Users are now spending more time per session in Gemini than in ChatGPT. OpenAI is facing a retention crisis that effectively forces it back into startup mode to survive.
Meanwhile, French startup Mistral challenged rivals like OpenAI and Google on Wednesday by launching Mistral 3, a versatile suite of 10 open-weight models designed to run on everything from smartphones to the cloud.
OpenAI’s Move Validates Cramer Prediction
The strategic pivot offers immediate validation to CNBC commentator Jim Cramer, who presciently called the shift earlier this week.
On Tuesday, Cramer posted on X that it was “only a matter of time” before OpenAI admitted it was falling behind, predicting a “rush of tens of millions of users” straight to Gemini 3.
His forecast, which anticipated the operational panic now unfolding, highlighted how Google's custom chip advantage (TPUs) would eventually overwhelm OpenAI's first-mover advantage.
As Altman hits the brakes on profit to salvage performance, the market is witnessing a classic “innovator’s dilemma” played out in reverse.
GOOG Surges 66% In 2025
GOOG closed 0.29% higher at $316.02 apiece on Tuesday and 0.23% in after-hours. It has advanced by 65.78% year-to-date and 82.65% over the year. The stock was 0.27% higher in premarket on Wednesday.
It maintains a stronger price trend over the short, medium, and long terms, with a solid quality ranking. Additional performance details, as per Benzinga’s Edge Stock Rankings, are available here.
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