OpenAI launches new image generation model as code red battle with Google intensifies

OpenAI continues on its 'code red' warpath with new image generation model | TechCrunch

OpenAI is rolling out a new version of ChatGPT Images that promises better instruction-following, more precise editing, and up to 4x faster image generation speeds. The new model, dubbed GPT-Image-1.5, is available starting Tuesday to all ChatGPT users and via the API. It's the latest escalation in the competition with Google's Gemini after OpenAI CEO Sam Altman last month declared a "code red" in a leaked internal memo. The memo detailed OpenAI's plans to regain its position as the AI leader after Google had begun to take market share following the release of Gemini 3, its latest flagship model, and Nano Banana Pro, the newest version of Google's viral image generator - both of which have topped the LMArena leaderboard across multiple benchmarks. Google maintains its lead even after OpenAI responded to its success last week with the launch of GPT-5.2, pitching it as its most advanced model yet for developers and everyday professional use. OpenAI had reportedly been planning to release a new image generator in early January, accelerating those plans with this week's announcement. Its last image model release was GPT-Image-1 in April. GPT-Image-1.5 arrives as image and video generators advance beyond prototypes and gain more production-ready capabilities. Like Nano Banana Pro, ChatGPT Images offers post-production features, providing more granular edit controls to maintain visual consistency, like facial likeness, lighting, composition, and color tone across edits. Most GenAI image tools are bad at iteration, so this would be a huge step up. Asked for a specific change, like 'adjust the facial expression' or 'make lighting colder,' models will often reinterpret the entire image, leading to a lack of consistency. The update isn't just about new features. ChatGPT Images will also now be accessible via a dedicated entry point in the ChatGPT sidebar that works "more like a creative studio," Fidji Simo, OpenAI's CEO of applications, wrote in a blog post Tuesday. "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," Simo wrote. On top of the new image generator, OpenAI is introducing new ways to improve the ChatGPT experience with more visual elements. The plan is to make search queries display more visuals with clear sources, which could be helpful for tasks like converting measurements or checking sports scores, per Simo. "When you're creating, you should be able to see and shape the thing you're making. When visuals tell a story better than words alone, ChatGPT should include them," Simo wrote. "When you need a quick answer or the next step lives in another tool, it should be right there. As we do this, we can keep closing the distance between what's in your mind and your ability to bring it to life."

OpenAI Just Dropped a New AI Image Model in ChatGPT to Rival Google's Nano Banana

AI image generation models have been getting more and more advanced all year, and with just two weeks left in 2025, those improvements haven't stopped. OpenAI on Tuesday dropped the newest version of its AI image model, named GPT-Image Model 1.5, with the company saying it's upgraded to better follow your instructions and create more detailed images. You can take advantage of the new model beginning today. It's available to all ChatGPT users globally and available in the API as GPT-Image-1.5. You can use the model in a new dedicated space in ChatGPT for images in the sidebar, with preset styles and trending designs, built specifically for image creation -- a major upgrade from simply talking with ChatGPT to generate images. "Many people's first experience with ChatGPT involves turning a text prompt into a picture. It's a magical way to see what this technology can do, but the chat interface wasn't originally designed for this," Fidji Simo, CEO of applications at OpenAI, wrote in a blog post. "Creating and editing images is a different kind of task and deserves a space built for visuals." (Disclosure: Ziff Davis, CNET's parent company, in April filed a lawsuit against OpenAI, alleging it infringed Ziff Davis copyrights in training and operating its AI systems.) OpenAI says that the new model is four times faster than the previous one and better able to follow instructions and handle precise editing. You'll be able to use those editing tools to add in specific objects, change styles of objects, try on specific pieces of clothing and remove elements. OpenAI says the new 1.5 model is also better at generating legible text in AI images. This is a notoriously tricky task for generative media models, with even the first generation of OpenAI's model falling flat on similar promises. Test images made with 1.5 seem to highlight improvements, but we'll have to wait and see how our hands-on testing goes. All of those updates would be massive upgrades compared to the original model. When I reviewed the first model, it was noticeably slower than competitors and lacked essential editing tools to refine your images. The improvements in the 1.5 model aim to fix those annoyances. This updated model comes a week after Disney and OpenAI struck an agreement to bring over 200 of Disney's iconic characters to ChatGPT images and Sora AI videos. You won't yet be able to use the new model to make Disney characters -- that's set to come in early 2026 -- but it will surely make it easier to create those recognizable superheroes and villains. OpenAI's timing with this new model likely isn't to help you make your holiday cards with AI. Google recently dropped nano banana pro, the updated version of its viral AI image tool that came with the new Gemini 3. Nano banana pro's ability to make hyper-realistic images, with legible text, based on Gemini's world knowledge, marked a massive leap forward in generative media. It also renewed fears that it's harder than ever to identify AI-generated content. OpenAI issued an internal code red after Google dropped Gemini 3, highlighting the company's desire to compete with the cutting-edge AI prowess Google displayed. Last week's release of OpenAI's GPT-5.2 was another effort to close the gap between itself and Google. The first generation of OpenAI's image model prompted a trend of AI users making "Studio Ghibli" versions of themselves with ChatGPT. It also reignited the debate about the ethics and legality of using AI creative tools like AI image generators, particularly with Hayao Miyazaki, co-founder of Studio Ghibli, having said that AI tools are "an insult to life itself." Since March, we've seen a number of creators -- authors, writers and actors -- speak out about the danger of letting AI tools use human-created artistic works and human likenesses to create AI content. OpenAI's popular video generator Sora enflamed those debates this fall.

OpenAI releases new image model as it races to outpace Google's Nano Banana amid company Code Red | Fortune

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.