Google has jolted the Artificial Intelligence landscape with the release of Gemini 3 and renewed attention on its in-house Tensor chips, prompting public acknowledgments from rivals and partners. Nvidia posted praise on X on November 25 while also arguing that “NVIDIA offers greater performance, versatility, and fungibility than ASICs.” OpenAI CEO Sam Altman wrote on X, “Congrats to Google on Gemini 3! Looks like a great model.” Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff said he would not go back to ChatGPT after trying the new model. Reporting has the market taking notice: shares of Google were up nearly 8% last week, while Nvidia’s were down a little over 2%.
Gemini 3, which debuted on November 18, has climbed to the top of benchmark leaderboards for tasks such as text generation, image editing, image processing and turning text into images, putting it ahead of rivals in those specific categories. Google said over one million users tried Gemini 3 in its first 24 hours through both its AI coding program and app integrations. The piece notes that usage patterns vary by task: ChatGPT has at least 800 million weekly active users according to OpenAI, while Google’s Gemini app has 650 million monthly active users. Analysts caution that leaderboard wins do not automatically translate into categorical dominance. Angelo Zino of CFRA said, “They’re in the lead for now, let’s call it, until somebody else comes up with the next model,” and Ben Barringer of Quilter Cheviot highlighted that different models can excel at different use cases.
Competition in chips is a central thread. Google’s Tensor chips are application-specific integrated circuits, while Nvidia and AMD focus on graphics processing units that are more broadly applicable. Nvidia reported 62% year-over-year sales growth in the October quarter and profits up 65% compared to a year ago, underscoring its current strength. Experts quoted in the article note that ASICs are often designed for narrower workloads, and that Nvidia offers comprehensive data center packages, including networking chips and developer tools. Ted Mortonson of Baird said, “If you look at the magnitude of Nvidia’s offerings, nobody really can touch them.” The reporting concludes that Google’s advances increase competition and choice rather than guaranteeing an immediate shift in market leadership. “I think it’s a part of a balance,” one analyst said.
