A seismic jolt has rocked the artificial intelligence landscape, emanating from a blunt and effusive social media post by Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff. After a brief two-hour encounter with Google's newly unveiled Gemini 3 model, the influential tech executive declared his allegiance in no uncertain terms: "Holy s***. I've used ChatGPT every day for 3 years. Just spent 2 hours on Gemini 3. I'm not going back."[1][2][3][4] This unvarnished endorsement from a long-time power user of OpenAI's flagship product has sent shockwaves through the industry, immediately escalating the already fierce rivalry between Google and OpenAI and signaling a potential shift in the AI power balance. Benioff’s declaration that "the leap is insane" has provided Google with a powerful external validation, suggesting its latest model may have surpassed the competition in the closely watched generative AI race.[1][2][3][4]

Benioff’s praise was not vague; he specifically pointed to significant advancements he observed in Gemini 3's core functionalities. In his post on the social platform X, he detailed that the improvements in "reasoning, speed, images, video… everything is sharper and faster."[2][3][4] This suggests a substantial step forward in multimodal capabilities, an area where AI models are increasingly judged.[3] His comment that "it feels like the world just changed, again" captures the magnitude of the perceived breakthrough, echoing the transformative feeling that accompanied the public release of ChatGPT three years prior.[2] The endorsement is particularly noteworthy given Benioff's previous, more skeptical stance on the AI hype cycle. He had previously stated that the industry "all got drunk on the ChatGPT Kool-Aid" and cautioned against viewing chatbots as a panacea.[5] His dramatic reversal and strong conviction after experiencing Gemini 3 lend significant weight to Google's claims about its new model's superiority.

This high-profile conversion immediately reframes the competitive narrative between Google and OpenAI. For years, Google has been perceived as playing catch-up following the explosive debut of ChatGPT.[1] Benioff's switch provides a public win for Google, suggesting that its persistent, large-scale investment in AI is yielding formidable results.[1] The timing is critical, with Gemini 3's release reportedly coming shortly after OpenAI unveiled GPT-5.1, underscoring the breakneck pace of innovation.[2] The Salesforce CEO's endorsement is not happening in a vacuum; other industry leaders have also expressed positive initial reactions to Gemini 3. Box CEO Aaron Levie reported that early evaluations delivered surprisingly strong results, while even OpenAI CEO Sam Altman offered a rare note of praise for a competitor, calling Gemini 3 a "great model."[1][2] This growing chorus of approval, kicked into high gear by Benioff's emphatic statement, could influence enterprise adoption decisions and shift market sentiment firmly in Google's favor.[4]

The context of the deepening partnership between Salesforce and Google cannot be overlooked when analyzing Benioff's comments. Salesforce has been progressively integrating Google's AI technologies into its own platforms.[6][7] The companies have announced expanded collaborations, with Google's Gemini models set to power parts of Salesforce's Agentforce 360 platform and its Atlas Reasoning Engine.[6][8] Salesforce has even highlighted that fine-tuned Gemini models outperform competing large language models on key CRM benchmarks.[6] This strategic alliance means Benioff likely had early and deep access to Gemini 3's capabilities, and his public praise serves to reinforce the value of his company's technological choices. While his enthusiasm appears genuine, it also aligns with Salesforce's business strategy and its bet on Google's AI ecosystem to deliver advanced "agentic" AI, which Benioff sees as the future beyond simple chatbots.[5]

Ultimately, Benioff's viral comment has cast a brilliant spotlight on the capabilities of Gemini 3, forcing the entire tech industry to take notice. Google has marketed the model as its most intelligent and general-purpose system yet, with major improvements in complex reasoning, multimodal understanding, and agentic coding.[3][9][10] Reports indicate Gemini 3 has outperformed rivals across standard industry benchmarks, boasting features like a massive context window and a new "Deep Think" mode for enhanced reasoning.[1][2][9] The model's ability to seamlessly integrate and process text, images, video, and code appears to be the "insane leap" that Benioff referenced.[3] While the long-term impact will depend on sustained real-world performance and broader user adoption, the Salesforce CEO's exclamation has served as a powerful starting gun for a new, more intense phase of the AI arms race. It has unequivocally positioned Google as a formidable leader, if not the current frontrunner, in a competition that continues to reshape the technological world.