OpenAI Issues “Code Red” for ChatGPT Upgrade: Know What is Garlic AI? Rivaling Google Gemini AI & Others

OpenAI is reportedly working on a new large language model named Garlic, which is expected to directly compete with Google's Gemini 3 and Anthropic's Opus 4.5. Reports suggest that Garlic is being designed with a strong emphasis on advanced reasoning and coding capabilities. Industry insiders anticipate that the model could be publicly released as GPT-5.2 or GPT-5.5, with OpenAI targeting an early 2026 launch for the new AI system.

"Code Red": OpenAI Quietly Develops Garlic AI Model to Rival Google Gemini 3 and Anthropic Opus 4.5

Inside OpenAI, the competition with rival AI companies appears to be intense. CEO Sam Altman reportedly issued a "code red" to accelerate ChatGPT's upgrades and ensure OpenAI remains competitive against Gemini 3.

During internal meetings, Altman told staff that OpenAI's latest reasoning model is already "ahead" of Gemini 3 according to the company's internal tests. While OpenAI has not made any public statements regarding Garlic, insiders describe the project as moving on a fast-tracked development timeline.

What Is OpenAI's Garlic? Understand ChatGPT Code Red

Garlic is the code name for a new large language model (LLM) that OpenAI is developing. It is designed to compete with other advanced AI systems like Google's Gemini 3 and Anthropic's Opus 4.5.

According to a report by The Information, Garlic has already demonstrated "strong performance" on multiple benchmarks, including programming-related tasks. Garlic builds on a previous internal OpenAI initiative called Shallotpeat, which Altman discussed with employees in October 2025.

Shallotpeat was originally designed as a direct response to Gemini 3, providing a foundation for the development of Garlic. Engineers refined the model during its pretraining phase, where it learns patterns and associations from large-scale internet datasets, to optimize its reasoning and coding performance.

Open AI Garlic ChatGPT Vs Google Gemini Ai Vs Others: Training Efficiency and Technological Advances

OpenAI's Chief Research Officer, Mark Chen, described Garlic as a major advancement in pretraining efficiency. Chen reportedly told colleagues that the team managed to "infuse a smaller model with the same amount of knowledge" that previously required a significantly larger system. This approach could allow Garlic to reach capabilities similar to GPT-4.5 while reducing compute costs and improving response times for users.

Chen also highlighted that Garlic has surpassed OpenAI's "previous best" pretraining outcomes, overcoming several bottlenecks that had limited GPT-4.5, which was released earlier in 2025. With these limitations addressed, OpenAI aims to design smaller but highly capable models, potentially enabling more frequent upgrades without escalating training expenses.

Key AI projects relevant to Garlic include:

Garlic (OpenAI) - Focus on reasoning and programming, planned launch by early 2026, may appear as GPT-5.2 or GPT-5.5.

Gemini 3 (Google) - Focus on training efficiency and reasoning, already released.

Opus 4.5 (Anthropic) - Advanced language and reasoning, current competitor to OpenAI and Google.

Shallotpeat (OpenAI) - Internal challenger to Gemini 3, providing foundational insights for Garlic development.

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