ChatGPT was disabled for thousands of users on Tuesday, December 3, 2025, causing panic across the globe. OpenAI The error was quickly corrected, but the brief outage came at the most inopportune moment. CEO Sam Altman now has an internal “Red code,” the company’s highest alert level to defend against Google’s rapid rise Gemini and save ChatGPT’s crown as the world’s most popular AI. The disruption only lasted a few hours, but it reminded everyone how much we rely on the chatbot. Workers lost access in the middle of work, students couldn’t complete their homework, and companies saw productivity freeze.
What caused the failure and what the red code really means
OpenAI revealed the key details:
- A simple routing misconfiguration caused ChatGPT and the API to break for several hours.
- Over 3,000 users reported problems with Downdetector at peak times.
- The technicians fixed the problem the same day and operations were back to normal by evening.
There is much more at stake behind the scenes. Sam Altman sent an urgent message “Red Code” Memo to all teams, one step above the previous “Code orange.” The message requires immediate action in terms of speed, stability and quality.
According to the Red Code rules, the following applies to OpenAI:
- Pushes every team to immediately make ChatGPT faster and more reliable.
- Delays new features such as in-chat ads, shopping assistants, health agents and the Pulse daily overview tool.
- Holds daily check-in meetings with emergency operations leaders.
- Causes engineers from other projects to focus only on basic chatbot fixes.
Googles Gemini It now captures more than 15% of the market and continues to grow. It’s new Nano Banana Pro Model dominates creative and image editing tests, while Gemini 3 Pro beats ChatGPT in several public benchmarks. Traffic data shows OpenAI has lost ground for the first time in months.
Also Read: Character AI Statistics: Latest Findings and Trends
At the same time, a recent data breach at analytics partner Mixpanel exposed some usernames and emails, another issue the company is grappling with.
With over 800 million weekly users OpenAI I can’t afford any more stumbling. The Red code War Room runs 24/7 to regain speed, trust and market leadership before Google moves forward. For users, this emergency means a rock solid ChatGPT is coming soon, even if flashy new toys arrive later than planned.
More news to read: Impact of AI on reshaping today’s marketing ecosystem
Google CTR Trends Q3: Brand-related clicks are increasing, top spots are narrowing
