CNBC's Jim Cramer isn't exactly bullish on OpenAI's prospects right now. On Tuesday, he suggested that Google (GOOG) (GOOGL) and its Gemini 3 AI model might just be the thing that knocks OpenAI off its perch. His take? It's only a matter of time before we see a massive user exodus toward Gemini 3.

"It was only a matter of time before we heard from OpenAI about how it fell behind and the rush of tens of millions of users right to Gemini 3 would be upon us," Cramer posted on X.

OpenAI Hits The Panic Button

Cramer's commentary came right after The Wall Street Journal reported that OpenAI CEO Sam Altman told employees the company is entering a "code red" phase. According to the report, OpenAI is pausing other product work to focus entirely on boosting ChatGPT's quality, with specific attention to personalization, speed, reliability, and the breadth of its answers.

The memo signals mounting competitive pressure, particularly from Google's latest Gemini model, which recently outperformed OpenAI on key benchmarks. When your CEO declares "code red," it's usually not because things are going swimmingly.

Google's Rise And Nvidia's Challenge

Google has real momentum here. Gemini's user base exploded after the August launch of its Nano Banana image generator, jumping from 450 million monthly active users in July to 650 million by October. On November 18, Google CEO Sundar Pichai unveiled Gemini 3, calling it the company's most advanced AI system yet. It's widely seen as a direct shot at OpenAI's GPT-5.

But Google isn't just competing on the software front. The company is also using Tensor Processing Units (TPUs) as an alternative to Nvidia (NVDA) GPUs for AI tasks, putting a dent in Nvidia's once-uncontested dominance in the AI chip market. Google is playing the long game, building both the brains and the infrastructure to power the next generation of AI.