OpenAI fast-tracks Garlic AI model to counter Google Gemini's dominance in coding and reasoning

OpenAI is secretly fast-tracking 'Garlic' to fix ChatGPT's biggest flaws: What we know

Following Google's release of Gemini 3, which quickly rose to the top of the LMArena AI leaderboard, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman informed employees that he was declaring a "code red." The aim was to further improve ChatGPT to better compete, according to a report by The Information. Now, a follow-up report from the publication reveals that the company is developing a new model in response, codenamed Garlic. (Disclosure: Ziff Davis, ZDNET's parent company, filed an April 2025 lawsuit against OpenAI, alleging it infringed Ziff Davis copyrights in training and operating its AI systems.) Also: Is DeepSeek's new model the latest blow to proprietary AI? OpenAI's Chief Research Officer Mark Chen informed colleagues that Garlic has performed well in company evaluations compared to Gemini 3 and Anthropic's Opus 4.5 in tasks involving coding and reason, according to the report. This is important because both Gemini 3 and Anthropic Opus 4.5, released last month, set new industry standards, with the former leading in reasoning and the latter leading in coding. OpenAI did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Chen also added that when developing Garlic, OpenAI addressed issues with pretraining, the initial phase of training in which the model begins learning from a massive dataset. The company focused the model on broader connections before training it for more specific tasks. These changes in pretraining enable OpenAI to infuse a smaller model with the same amount of knowledge previously reserved for larger models, according to Chen's remarks cited in the report. Smaller models can be beneficial for developers as they are typically cheaper and easier to deploy -- something French AI lab Mistral emphasized with its latest release this week. For the company behind it, a smaller model is cheaper to build and deploy. Garlic is not to be confused with Shallotpeat, a model Altman announced to its staff in October, according to a previous report, also from The Information, which also aimed to fix bugs in the pretraining process. Also: Amazon says new DevOps agents need no babysitting - you can try them here As for when to expect the model, Chen kept the details vague, saying only "as soon as possible" in the report. However, given the context and OpenAI's urgent need to stay ahead, it would be safe to assume that the model could be released early next year. The developments made when creating Garlic have already allowed the company to move on to developing its next bigger and better model, Chen said. This fierce race between Google and OpenAI can be partially attributed to both vying for the same sector: consumers. As Anthropic's CEO, Dario Amodei, noted in conversation with Andrew Ross Sorkin during The New York Times' DealBook Summit on Wednesday, Anthropic isn't in the same race or facing a "code red" panic as its competitors, because it is focused on serving enterprises rather than consumers. The company just announced that its Claude Code agentic coding tool reached $1 billion in run-rate revenue, only six months after becoming available to the public.

OpenAI Working on New AI Model Garlic as Google Pushes Gemini Forward

OpenAI Builds Garlic, Its Next AI Model, as Google Accelerates Gemini The rivalry between Google and OpenAI has intensified as the number of advanced models capable of delivering greatly improved results in artificial intelligence grows. Increasingly, the two corporations have begun focusing on their investments in new natural language processing and understanding models capable of performing complex reasoning, writing code, and handling multiple simultaneous tasks across a wide range of data types. In the midst of this competitive struggle lies OpenAI's "Garlic" model; Garlic may serve as a disruptive innovation that challenges the dominance of Google's "Gemini" series of models. According to preliminary sources, Garlic can outperform all existing coding and reasoning models. With ongoing work and interest from different industries, Garlic is very likely to be an innovation that alters how everyone uses smart systems for business use cases in the future.

OpenAI working on new AI model called Garlic as Google steps up its AI game

The company is expected to release an early version of the model as soon as possible. OpenAI is reportedly developing a new large language model codenamed Garlic as the company pushes to strengthen its position in the fast-moving artificial intelligence industry, according to a report from The Information. The project is likely a part of OpenAI's effort to keep pace with strong advances from competitors, especially Google. Mark Chen, OpenAI's chief research officer, reportedly shared details about Garlic with some employees last week. Internal tests show that the model is performing well compared to Google's Gemini 3 and Anthropic's Opus 4.5, particularly in coding and reasoning tasks. The company is expected to release an early version of the model as soon as possible. It could arrive as GPT-5.2 or GPT-5.5, with a potential launch in early 2026. Also read: OpenAI CEO Sam Altman declares code red as Google, Anthropic and other rivals moving ahead in AI race: Report The news comes at a time when OpenAI is said to be entering what CEO Sam Altman has described as a "code red" period. According to reports from The Wall Street Journal and The Information, Altman told employees that the company needs to urgently focus on improving ChatGPT as competition increases. In an internal memo, Altman said that several upcoming projects will be paused so teams can concentrate fully on upgrades to ChatGPT. These paused projects reportedly include new advertising tools, health-focused and shopping-focused AI agents, and a personal assistant called Pulse. Instead, OpenAI is expected to prioritise improvements to ChatGPT's speed, accuracy, reliability, and personalisation. Also read: Apple hires Google and Microsoft veteran as new vice president of AI as John Giannandrea steps down To push things forward more quickly, the company will reportedly hold daily check-ins for teams working on the upgrades. Employees are also being encouraged to temporarily join these groups to help move development along faster. Also read: Samsung Galaxy Z TriFold is finally here: Camera, display, battery and all other specs