Facing fierce competition from Google and Anthropic, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman declared a "code red" this week and announced plans to accelerate the release of its new model, GPT-5.2, as a countermeasure.
On December 5, reports indicated that OpenAI's GPT-5.2 model is ready and could launch as early as December 9, significantly ahead of its original late-December schedule.
According to comparison charts shared by users on social media, GPT-5.2 appears to outperform Gemini 3 and Claude 4.5 across multiple benchmarks. However, the authenticity of these claims remains unverified, though they reflect high market expectations for OpenAI’s latest model.
Analysts note that OpenAI’s release dates often shift due to development hurdles, server capacity issues, or competitor model launches, meaning GPT-5.2’s actual rollout could still be slightly delayed beyond December 9.
During an internal review this week, CEO Sam Altman stated that the upcoming GPT-5.2 would "outperform Google’s Gemini 3 in reasoning capabilities."
This product defense strategy is critical to OpenAI’s funding prospects. The company expects to spend hundreds of billions over the next few years on R&D and computing power, and maintaining its technological edge will determine its ability to raise approximately $100 billion in capital.
**Optimizing the Model to Rival Gemini 3** This week, sources revealed that in response to Google’s aggressive competition, Altman declared a "code red" to employees, directing all resources toward optimizing ChatGPT.
OpenAI has paused testing for shopping ads based on ChatGPT’s vast user search behavior, despite this being seen as a promising revenue stream.
Additionally, development on the "AI agent" project for automating shopping and health tasks, as well as the personalized morning briefing project "Pulse," has been delayed.
During the "code red" period, OpenAI identified five core priorities to solidify its base of 800 million weekly active users:
1. **Personalization**: Customizing interactions for over 800 million weekly active users. 2. **Image Generation**: Enhancing Imagegen to compete with rivals like Google’s Nano Banana Pro, enabling users to create images ranging from interior designs to animated real-life photos. 3. **Model Behavior**: Improving performance to surpass competitors on public leaderboards like LMArena. 4. **Speed & Reliability**: Boosting ChatGPT’s response time and stability. 5. **Reducing Over-Refusals**: Minimizing instances where the model rejects legitimate queries.
**$100 Billion Funding Plan at Stake** Behind the "code red" lies OpenAI’s immense financial pressure.
The company anticipates spending hundreds of billions on R&D and computing infrastructure in the coming years, requiring roughly $100 billion in funding.
Financial projections from earlier this year estimate ChatGPT’s subscription revenue at $10 billion this year, growing to $20 billion next year and $35 billion by 2027. However, achieving this ambitious roadmap hinges on OpenAI maintaining its lead in a fiercely competitive market.
Analysts warn that if OpenAI fails to counter Google’s momentum and prove ChatGPT remains the world’s leading AI product, its future fundraising prospects could suffer.
The performance of GPT-5.2 and ChatGPT’s overall optimization will be pivotal in determining the company’s funding trajectory. For a firm reliant on continuous massive investments to sustain operations and innovation, any signs of slowing growth could test investor confidence.