OpenAI released a new flagship image generation model today as it moves to counter recent concerns that it is slipping behind rivals in the race to capture both consumer and business mindshare.
The new image generation model allows for more precise image editing and can generate images up to four times faster than OpenAI’s previous image creation AI, the company said in a blog post. It said the new model, as well as a new images feature in ChatGPT are designed to make image generation “delightful.”
According to an OpenAI blog post, the new ChatGPT Images is rolling out to all ChatGPT users and API users globally today. The company said it works across models, so users don’t need to select a specific model in the drop-down menu in order to use it.
“We believe we’re still at the beginning of what image generation can enable,” the company said in the blog post. “Today’s update is a meaningful step forward with more to come, from finer-grained edits to richer, more detailed outputs across languages.”
While it may seem like a Christmas present for loyal ChatGPT users, OpenAI staffers have been the busy elves responding to Santa—er, CEO—Sam Altman’s post-Thanksgiving “Code Red” memo, which was meant to push the company to improve ChatGPT over the next eight weeks amid intense competition from rivals, most notably Google.
Google’s Gemini model had been gaining steam after its image generation model, Nano Banana, was released in August. Google said monthly active users grew from 450 million in July to 650 million in October.
The company’s latest version, Nano Banana Pro, went viral after its November 20 release, thanks to the model’s newfound ability to handle text in images cleanly (something that had been a thorny problem for years). Users were also wowed by Nano Banana Pro’s ability to produce diagrams and infographics that made sense, and the fact that it allowed people to edit their images rather than regenerating them from scratch.
Last week, OpenAI released the latest version of its text model, GPT-5.2; since then, industry-watchers have waited to see if the company would release a new image model before the New Year. But will it be good enough to outpace Google?
Fidji Simo, OpenAI’s CEO of applications, wrote in a Substack post that ChatGPT’s chat interface was not originally designed to go beyond text, so the new image model is accompanied by a “dedicated entrypoint” in ChatGPT for images that works more like a “creative studio,” available in the sidebar through the mobile app and on the web.
“The new image viewing and editing screens make it easier to create images that match your vision or get inspiration from trending prompts and preset filters,” she wrote. “On top of that, our new model is faster and better at following detailed instructions so you get more accurate edits and creative transformations.” The model can keep key elements like lighting, composition, and likeness consistent between what users input and what the model outputs, “so the results stay much closer to what you imagined,” she added.
Still, Nano Banana Pro may still have an early mindshare advantage. In a recent interview with Fortune, Allie Miller, an AI advisor and investor, discussed how she recently attended a Shark Tank-type event hosted by Mark Cuban and was struck by what happened when Cuban said the words “Nano Banana.”
She expected that the mention of Google’s whimsically-named AI image generator might cause confusion among the thousands of people in the audience, who Miller described as mostly new to AI. Instead, the crowd nodded in recognition.
Like ChatGPT itself, she explained, “there are certain AI tools or models that you just start hearing over and over and over again that gain such a big pop culture moment.”
Whether OpenAI’s elves can make its new ChatGPT Images as irresistible as the most sought-after toys of the season remains to be seen. But the moment—coming amid the company’s Code Red—underscores a broader reality: While model quality still matters in the AI race, it’s increasingly a battle for consumer hearts and minds.
