As we reported earlier this week, OpenAI is moving with unusual urgency as competition in the AI race heats up, and this shift has become even more apparent in recent days. CEO Sam Altman has reportedly declared what employees describe as a “code red”, pushing teams to speed up work on the next major update to ChatGPT. According to several internal people, this level of pressure is rare, and it reflects how seriously the company is taking the recent advances made by its rivals. It’s tipped that OpenAI is now considering releasing ChatGPT 5.2 as early as next week, a change from the original plan to launch later in December. The accelerated timeline comes after Google introduced its Gemini 3 model last month, which received strong praise from industry experts, including Sam Altman, and appeared to outperform current GPT versions in several areas.
Reports suggest that Altman has told teams the situation is “very serious” and has pushed for faster progress on improving ChatGPT’s speed, stability, and personalisation features. These improvements were already in development, but the competitive pressure has led OpenAI to prioritise them above nearly everything else.
It’s also reported that to focus on this work and to speed up the process, OpenAI has temporarily slowed other projects, including its efforts on digital assistants and early advertising tools. Employees say this refocusing is intended to ensure that the next release feels like a meaningful leap forward, especially at a moment when outside expectations are unusually high.
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Sources say GPT 5.2 is already technically ready, and OpenAI is now deciding when to release it. If plans stay on track, December 9 is the date being discussed. The update would be OpenAI’s first major response to Google’s recent gains and could help close the gap created after Gemini 3’s strong debut.
Furthermore, some reports suggest that certain internal tests at OpenAI show the new model performing better than Gemini 3 in reasoning tasks, though the company has not shared any official details or benchmarks yet. Still, these early signals have raised expectations inside the company that GPT 5.2 could help shift the narrative back in OpenAI’s favour.
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The urgency isn’t just about growing competition; some analysts say the fast changes in the AI world are also affecting the stock market, which could be another reason for the rush. There’s also pressure from partner companies, because the stock prices of businesses linked to OpenAI dropped sharply after Google released Gemini 3. Companies like Nvidia and AMD saw their stocks fall, while companies connected to Google saw their prices go up. However, investment firms like Coatue believe that stocks tied to OpenAI will bounce back once new models are released.