When Google Gemini 3 was released, archrival OpenAI (creator of ChatGPT), reportedly called a ‘Code Red’, signalling the start of a war of supremacy, with the prize for the winner expected to be suzerainty over AI searches. But what does this fight to become the next Google mean for partners?
► Arms race for AI market supremacy begins in earnest
► Google and OpenAI lock horns in battle for control of key sector
Gemini 3 is faster, more intelligent, better at generating code and has more agentic AI capabilities. In response, OpenAI is accelerated development of its next version of ChatGPT, the so-called ‘Garlic’ version (ChatGPT 5.2), which has improved coding and reasoning. These are the early stages of an arms race that will see repeated attempts by competitors to out-do each-other at every turn.
Who will win? Maybe neither and there are other players, most notably Copilot and Anthropic with Claude AI (partially backed by Amazon and Google). Google would seem to have a head start, as it controls Android and that runs on around 70% of mobile phones globally. But, ChatGPT has the biggest market presence today and if it ends up being used on Apple devices (as some suggest it may), it should be able to fight a good corner and remain a significant player.
Then of course, with Windows running on an estimated 70% of the world's PCs, Copilot is also in the game. Microsoft surely won’t allow itself to be excluded from such an important area of the market. And just for context here, if you look at all devices globally (smartphones, tablets, laptops, desktops) Android is the biggest player with around 45%, Windows next with 27%, and Apple around 16%.
But does any of this matter for the channel and for partners?
From one perspective, it doesn’t matter in the slightest. Users will make use of whatever AI is made available on their device or search tool – whether that is Gemini to do a web search, Copilot to rewrite a passage of text in Word, or ChatGPT to get some ideas for a project or even name. As these illustrations demonstrate, all of us are already using AI in our everyday work.
From another, yes, it does matter who has dominance over AI as what they do will impact us all. One example is how the Google search algorithms now dictate content generation and the effectiveness of all online marketing activity. It may also lead to one of these vendors establishing a standard by which all others will need to follow, which will make the choices that developers and integrators make in terms of which AI platform they use, more crucial.
Navigating the AI arms race
The battle for AI dominance is far from settled – and for partners, the real question isn’t who wins, but how to stay agile in a rapidly evolving landscape. Whether it’s Gemini, ChatGPT, Copilot or other, these platforms will continue to shape the way businesses operate and interact with technology.
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