When ChatGPT launched in late 2022, it blindsided Silicon Valley. Google $GOOGL ( ▲ 6.31% ) , Microsoft $MSFT ( ▲ 0.4% ), and Amazon $AMZN ( ▲ 2.53% ) had been working on generative AI for years, but OpenAI’s breakout moment kicked off a full-blown arms race. For a while, OpenAI looked untouchable. Now, not so much.
Google’s new Gemini 3 is earning top marks across leaderboards and winning over developers and consumers, and the buzz is loud enough to rattle OpenAI’s own leadership. According to reporting from The Information, Sam Altman told staff last month that the company has “some work to do” and warned that the “vibes out there [will] be rough for a bit.”
Altman also pointed out that Google’s momentum could create “temporary economic headwinds” for OpenAI, though he insisted the company will come out ahead in the long run. Still, the memo shows something rare in the AI boom: OpenAI openly acknowledging a real challenger.
And that challenger is not small. Google can drop new models directly into Search, Android, YouTube, Gmail, Docs, and its massive cloud business. It is not just building AI systems. It is stapling them onto products used by billions of people.
OpenAI may have sparked the modern AI wave, but Google is reminding the industry what it can do when it gets momentum back.