Why OpenAI declared a code red for ChatGPT

A smidge over three years ago, OpenAI threw the rest of the tech industry into chaos. When ChatGPT launched, even billed as a “low-key research preview,” it became immediately clear that OpenAI was showing the world a new way of computing. Lots of other companies, most notably Google, had to immediately scramble to catch up as AI took over the world.

Now it’s OpenAI doing the scrambling. CEO Sam Altman sent a note to his team this week declaring a “code red,” saying that OpenAI needs to re-focus on its most important products in order to keep up with the onslaught of competition from Google’s Gemini and others. The question now is, what does making ChatGPT better actually look like?

On this episode of The Vergecast, David and Nilay discuss the state of ChatGPT, and the big questions facing the AI industry as a whole. But before they get to that, there’s some other news to talk about. Samsung released a trifold phone, which is either awesome or pointless or maybe a little bit of both. Apple’s executive shakeup continues, this time with design boss Alan Dye leaving to set up a design studio at Meta. Is the Dye exit a good thing for Apple, as many are saying? Or is this management turnover a sign that something is wrong at Apple Park? (After we recorded, the company announced even more turnover, too.)

After that, we turn to AI. The questions facing OpenAI, and the rest of the companies betting big on LLMs, are increasingly focused on whether LLMs are even the right technology to deliver what the boosters have promised. Language, after all, is not the same thing as intelligence. But let’s just say, for the sake of argument, that this is as good as the tech is ever going to get. What products are left to build? And who’s going to build them?

If you want to know more about everything we discuss in this episode, here are some links to get you started, first in gadget and Apple news:

And in the lightning round: