Scale & Strategy
This is Scale & Strategy, the ‘noise-cancelling headphones’ of business newsletters.
Here’s what we got for you today:
- OpenAI throws itself into “Code Red” after Google’s latest flex
- The secret to closing more deals? Apparently… talking louder.
OpenAI throws itself into “Code Red” after Google’s latest flex
OpenAI is officially in scramble mode. According to reporting from The Information, Sam Altman told employees the company is entering a full-on “code red” sprint to level up ChatGPT after Google’s recent model upgrades. Priorities are getting reshuffled, and a new flagship model effort—internally called “Garlic”—is being pushed to the front of the line.
Here’s the breakdown:
Altman’s internal memo framed this as “a critical time for ChatGPT,” with a hard push to improve personalization, image generation, and the overall UX that keeps millions of people glued to the product.
A new reasoning model, Shallotpeat, is shipping next week. Early testers say it beats Gemini 3 on benchmarks, which would put OpenAI back in the performance lead on reasoning tasks.
The bigger upgrade, Garlic, is targeting a 2026 launch. The Information reports it looks like the next major evolution beyond GPT-5.1—something in the GPT-5.2 or 5.5 range—and is specifically meant to fix long-standing pre-training bottlenecks.
As part of the Code Red directive, OpenAI is pausing ad initiatives and slowing down its agent work to funnel resources straight into improving the core ChatGPT experience.
Why this matters: It’s a reversal of the 2022 era, when Google declared its own “code red” after ChatGPT blindsided them. This time, Google’s surge plus Anthropic’s Opus 4.5 and China’s increasingly strong open-source models are squeezing OpenAI from every direction. The brand is still dominant, but its lead is suddenly looking very mortal.
The secret to closing more deals? Apparently… talking louder.
Turns out volume isn’t just for extroverts. After analyzing 8,920 sales calls, Thomas McKinlay at Science Says found that your voice might be the most underrated sales lever you’ve got.
The catch: it only works if you know when to turn it up and when to cool it.
Turn up the volume for strangers: Reps who spoke with a louder, more energetic tone boosted purchase likelihood across the board. New customers in particular were 7.7% more likely to buy when the salesperson sounded bright and confident.
People who don’t know you judge everything by your voice. High energy signals belief, which makes it easier for someone on the fence to take the leap.
Dial it back for your regulars: Use that same hype voice on existing customers and conversion actually drops by 3%.
Your current clients aren’t looking for fireworks. They’re looking for competence. A steady, calm tone tells them you know what you’re doing and they can trust you. Too much excitement reads as insecurity.
Culture matters too: Volume tolerance shifts across markets. Americans often interpret loud as enthusiastic. Japanese customers may hear it as aggressive.
But the rule still holds: match your energy to the relationship.
Hype for the newcomers. Calm confidence for your loyal base. That's the play.
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