Optically pumped surface‐emitting stimulated emission at room temperature was observed from GaN:Ge grown by metalorganic chemical vapor deposition. The sample was optically pumped perpendicularly on the top surface while the stimulated emission was collected from the back colinearly with the pump beam. The cavity was formed by the GaN/air and GaN/sapphire interfaces without any other structure. The stimulated emission was gain guided by the pump beam. The threshold optical pump density for stimulated emission was approximately 2.8 MW/cm2and the linewidth was 2.5 nm. The emission from GaN:Ge showed a redshift as the pump density increased. The comparison between theoretical calculations and experimental results suggested that many‐body interactions can account well for the redshift. ©1996 American Institute of Physics.