Alphabet(US:GOOGL) Benzinga·2025-12-03 11:55Core Insights - OpenAI CEO Sam Altman has declared a "Code Red," halting the company's monetization plans to focus on improving product quality [1] - This decision mirrors Google's previous "Code Red" issued three years ago, indicating a significant shift in the competitive landscape [2] Company Actions - OpenAI is pausing key revenue initiatives, including search ads, shopping features, and the "Pulse" personal assistant, to redirect resources towards addressing latency and reasoning issues in ChatGPT [2][3] - The urgency of this pivot is driven by the rapid rise of Google's Gemini 3, which has begun to capture market share from OpenAI [3][4] Market Dynamics - Google's Gemini has seen a substantial increase in monthly active users, rising from 450 million in July to over 650 million by October 2025, with users spending more time on Gemini than on ChatGPT [4] - OpenAI is experiencing a retention crisis, forcing it to revert to a startup mentality to remain competitive [4] Competitive Landscape - The launch of Mistral 3 by French startup Mistral introduces additional competition, offering a suite of 10 open-weight models adaptable for various platforms [5] - CNBC commentator Jim Cramer predicted this operational panic for OpenAI, suggesting a significant user migration towards Gemini 3 [6][7] Financial Performance - Alphabet Inc. (GOOG) has seen its stock surge by 66% in 2025, reflecting strong market performance and a favorable outlook compared to OpenAI [8]