Welcome to Jumble, your go-to source for AI news updates. This week, Sam Altman pauses current projects and issues a “code red” as competitors begin to outperform ChatGPT. Plus, universities across the U.S. are seeing record enrollment in newly launched AI programs. Let’s dive in ⬇️
In today’s newsletter:
⚠️ OpenAI is in an emergency state
🎓 AI college majors are booming
👜 Valentino backlash on AI ads
🐶 Students train AI robot puppy
🎄 Weekly Challenge: Holiday decor with AI
🚨 OpenAI Announces a “Code Red”
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman has triggered a company-wide “code red,” signaling an urgent internal shift as Google and Anthropic rapidly close in on ChatGPT’s early lead. The memo reflects mounting pressure on the $500 billion startup to defend its position at the front of the AI race just as rivals begin outperforming it on key benchmarks. For the first time since ChatGPT’s breakout, OpenAI is no longer comfortably ahead.
💬 Internal Message to Staff
In an internal message to staff, Altman said the company is entering a “surge” period focused almost entirely on making ChatGPT faster, more reliable, and more personalized. He described the moment as critical and warned that other ambitions would need to wait while the flagship product is strengthened.
We are at a critical time for ChatGPT.
📦 Several Products Are Being Pushed Back
To support the emergency refocus, OpenAI is delaying multiple initiatives at once:
Advertising products
AI agents designed for shopping and healthcare
Pulse, its personalized morning update tool
For a company that has been expanding aggressively, this pause marks a rare and telling retreat.
💨 Rivals Closing the Gap Faster Than Expected
The internal alarm follows major competitive gains from OpenAI’s top challengers. Google’s Gemini 3 recently surpassed GPT-5 on key industry benchmarks. Anthropic’s Opus 4.5 also outperformed GPT-5 in several important tests. The technical gap that once separated OpenAI from the rest of the field has narrowed sharply.
🧠 Google’s Hardware and Training Advances
Google DeepMind CTO Koray Kavukcuoglu said Gemini’s leap forward came from training on Google’s custom-built AI chips, which pushed model performance “quite significantly.” Google also confirmed it has refined its training methods and is now deploying its newest models directly into products immediately, speeding the transition from research to real-world use.
👥 OpenAI’s Massive Scale Is Changing
OpenAI still serves more than 800 million weekly users, but competitive pressure is intensifying fast. With the rollout of its image generator, Google says Gemini’s monthly active users surged from 450 million in July to 650 million by October. At the same time, Anthropic’s Claude models continue to gain ground, adding another rising challenger as user attention and engagement begin to shift.
⚠️ What’s Fueling the Emergency Push
Behind the scenes, OpenAI is facing multiple compounding pressures:
Rapidly rising data-center and compute costs
Increasing model training complexity
An intensifying battle to retain elite AI talent
⁉️ Why This Matters
For the first time since ChatGPT reshaped the AI market, OpenAI is operating in true defense mode. Altman’s internal warning makes one thing clear: the AI race has entered a compressed, hostile phase where leadership can no longer be assumed.
🎓 AI Becomes One of the Hottest Majors
Artificial intelligence is no longer just a research focus. It’s quickly becoming one of the most popular college majors in the US. Universities are reporting record demand for new AI degree programs, driven by the mainstream adoption of tools like ChatGPT and the massive growth of the AI industry.
Source: Master’s in AI
Total U.S. college AI programs increased by 60% in just one year, jumping from 314 programs in 2024 to 503 programs in 2025.
📊 Students Are Flocking to Brand-New Programs
Demand is surging across campuses of all sizes. This semester alone:
3,000+ students enrolled in a new College of Artificial Intelligence and Cybersecurity at the University of South Florida
150 first-year students joined a brand-new AI major at UC San Diego
SUNY Buffalo launched a dedicated Department of AI and Society offering interdisciplinary degrees
🏫 MIT’s AI Major Surges to the Top
At MIT, a major called “AI and Decision-Making” was created in 2022. The program teaches students how to build AI systems while also studying how machines interact with people and the physical world. This year, nearly 330 students enrolled, making it the second-largest undergraduate major at MIT.
🧠 Why AI Over Traditional CS
Administrators say many students now prefer working with data-driven systems rather than traditional software alone. Interest is especially strong among students who want to apply AI to:
🧬 Biology
🩺 Health care
🤖 Robotics
🏛️ Public policy
The applied nature of AI is pulling students who might have otherwise chosen pure computer science.
📉 Computer Science Enrollment Dips
While AI programs are booming, traditional computer science enrollments are showing signs of decline. This fall, 62% of computing programs reported drops in undergraduate enrollment, according to the Computing Research Association.
💼 A Tougher Job Market for New Grads
Tech hiring has cooled sharply across the industry, with recent graduates facing a far tougher job market than in previous years. At the same time, many employers now expect engineers to work alongside AI systems that can generate code, raising concerns that fewer junior roles may be needed.
🏁 What This Shift Signals
The race to build AI degree programs reflects a deeper reality: students are betting that AI skills will outlast traditional coding careers. As universities restructure around artificial intelligence, higher education itself is being reshaped by the technology it’s trying to teach.
Weekly Scoop 🍦
🎄 Weekly Challenge: Find Your Holiday Decor Style With AI
Challenge: Turn AI into your personal holiday interior stylist by discovering new decoration ideas, refining your aesthetic, and building a cohesive holiday look.
Here’s what to do:
Describe Your Space
Tell ChatGPT what you’re decorating (apartment, house, bedroom, office), along with details like room size, color palette, layout, and whether you want subtle or full-on festive.Choose a Vibe
Ask for 3–5 holiday decor themes based on your taste:
minimal, cozy, classic, modern, whimsical, vintage, luxury, etc.
Have it explain each style in a sentence so you can pick what fits you best.
Generate a Decor Shopping List
Ask AI to create a room-by-room decor list for your chosen theme:
tree style
ornaments
lights
table decor
wall + window accents
entryway touches
Get Visual Descriptions for Search
Ask for exact search phrases you can copy into Google, Pinterest, Etsy, or Amazon (ex: “warm white frosted twig tree with gold ornaments” instead of just “Christmas tree”).Compare Styles and Variations
Have AI suggest:
budget version
mid-range version
luxury version
of the same decor concept so you can mix and match without blowing your budget.
Avoid Impulse Buys
Ask AI what items are worth investing in vs. what you should buy cheaply because they’re seasonal or trend-based.Create a Final Decor Plan
Have ChatGPT turn everything into:
a final shopping checklist
a setup order (what to decorate first, second, last)
and a removal/storage plan for after the holidays.
That’s it for this week! As OpenAI hits “code red” and AI floods into college classrooms, it’s clear this technology is accelerating on every front. Will you be using AI to design your holiday decor this year? See you next time! 🚀
Stay informed, stay curious, and stay ahead with Jumble!
Zoe from Jumble
