Sam Altman says OpenAI would have been in a really bad place if Google had…

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman has acknowledged that his company narrowly avoided potential defeat by Google in the intensifying AI race, revealing that the search giant's delayed response to ChatGPT's launch gave OpenAI crucial breathing room to establish its market position.Speaking on the Big Technology Podcast with Alex Kantrowitz, Altman admitted that if Google had taken OpenAI seriously in 2023, "we would have been in a really bad place. I think they would have just been able to smash us." The candid assessment highlights the precarious early days of the AI competition that has since reshaped the technology industry.

Google’s revenue model prevents full AI pivot, argues Sam Altman

Altman explained during the podcast that while Google possesses "probably the greatest business model in the whole tech industry," this very strength has become a strategic liability.

The company's reluctance to disrupt its lucrative search and advertising revenue streams has prevented it from fully embracing AI-first product development."I think they will be slow to give that up," Altman told Kantrowitz, referring to Google's existing business infrastructure. He argued that Google's approach of "bolting AI into web search" fails to unlock the technology's transformative potential, suggesting that incremental AI features added to existing products represent only marginal improvements.

OpenAI CEO says future belongs to AI-native products

The OpenAI chief emphasized that true AI innovation requires complete product reimagination rather than retrofitting existing platforms. "Bolting AI onto the existing way of doing things, I don't think is going to work as well as redesigning stuff in the sort of AI-first world," Altman stated.He used messaging apps as an example, explaining that while AI-powered summaries and draft responses offer convenience, the future lies in autonomous AI agents that manage communications independently.

"I do not want to spend all day messaging people. I do not want you to summarize them," Altman said, describing his vision where AI handles routine decisions and only surfaces critical updates periodically.Altman's comments come as OpenAI recently declared a "code red" alert following Google's Gemini 3 launch, which he said happens "once maybe twice a year" as competitive threats emerge. Despite Google's advances, ChatGPT maintains 800 million weekly users. OpenAI launched its GPT-5.2 model last week and released a new image generation model this week in response to mounting competitive pressure from Google and other AI rivals.