Anthropic CEO mocks OpenAI Google code red

Anthropic CEO Takes Jab at OpenAI and Google "Code Red" Declarations

Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei recently mocked OpenAI and Google for their repeated "code red" emergency declarations, stating at The New York Times DealBook Summit that his company doesn't need such dramatic responses. "We don't have to do any code reds," Amodei told moderator Andrew Ross Sorkin, emphasizing Anthropic's more measured approach to AI development.​

Context Behind the Remarks

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman declared an internal "code red" this week after Google released Gemini 3, which surged ahead on performance benchmarks, user engagement, and market share. Google itself had previously announced a "code red" when ChatGPT launched three years ago, creating a pattern of competitive panic that Amodei now criticizes. Amodei explained that Anthropic occupies "a little bit of a privileged position where we can just keep growing and just keep developing our models" without resorting to such emergency measures.​

Anthropic's Enterprise Strategy

Amodei attributed his company's calmer stance to its focus on enterprise customers rather than consumers. "We've optimized our models more and more for the needs of businesses," he said, noting that enterprise AI prioritizes coding, scientific ability, and intellectual tasks over consumer engagement metrics. Anthropic recently released Claude Opus 4.5, its most advanced model designed for workplace productivity with enhanced code generation and document creation capabilities.​

Criticism of Competitor Spending

Beyond mocking "code red" declarations, Amodei expressed skepticism about the massive spending by rivals in their race for AI dominance. He questioned the sustainability of this approach, stating there's "a real dilemma, deriving from uncertainty, in how quickly the economic value is going to grow". Contrasting Anthropic's responsible growth management with competitors, he said some players "are YOLO, who pull the wrist dial too far".​