Google CEO Sundar Pichai on the launch that made the company issue Code Red to all its employees

Google CEO Sundar Pichai has opened up about the company’s internal panic when OpenAI launched ChatGPT in late 2022, describing how the seemingly small startup’s breakthrough forced the company to declare a “code red” and dramatically reshape its AI strategy.

Speaking at Salesforce’s Dreamforce conference, Pichai acknowledged that OpenAI deserved credit for releasing their chatbot first, even though Google had been developing similar technology internally.