Altman Warns Staff After Google AI Breakthroughs

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman warned staff in a leaked memo about “rough vibes” and possible “economic headwinds” after Google’s recent AI releases, according to The Rundown summarizing reporting from The Information. The memo frames Google’s breakthroughs—highlighted by products like Gemini 3 and Nano Banana Pro—as a competitive shift that could leave OpenAI temporarily playing catch-up.

The message reportedly singles out Google’s pretraining advances as particularly concerning, noting OpenAI’s prior struggles with pretraining while scaling work on GPT-5. Altman told staff to double down on “very ambitious bets” such as automated AI research and synthetic data generation, accepting the risk of falling behind in the near term to pursue longer-term strategic projects.

The reporting also says Altman hinted at an upcoming LLM codenamed “Shallotpeat” intended to help close the gap. The note is notable because it signals internal unease at OpenAI and underscores how quickly competitive dynamics can shift in the AI race—though the newsletter cautions that “the vibes can change fast,” especially with more product activity expected over the coming release season.