ChatGPT gets a new image generator

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OpenAI is back with another update, and this one comes with speed, polish, and just a hint of competitive panic. 

OpenAI announced a new version of ChatGPT Images, promising sharper instruction-following, more precise edits, and image generation speeds up to four times faster. 

In internet terms, that’s the difference between “hang on, it’s thinking” and “wow, that was instant.”

The new model, called GPT Image 1.5, is rolling out to all ChatGPT users and through OpenAI’s API. The timing is not subtle. 

Last month, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman reportedly sounded a “code red” in a leaked internal memo, after Google started stealing the spotlight with its Gemini lineup. 

Google’s Gemini 3 and its viral image tool Nano Banana Pro have been topping benchmarks and leaderboards, which is the AI equivalent of winning prom king and valedictorian at the same time.

OpenAI tried to counterpunch last week with GPT-5.2, but Google still appears to be holding the high ground. 

Enter GPT Image 1.5, which OpenAI had originally planned to ship earlier this year before apparently hitting the accelerator. 

The company’s last image model update landed back in April, so this one’s been cooking for a while.

What’s actually new here is less flashy and more useful. Like its Google rivals, GPT Image 1.5 focuses on post-production-style editing. 

Instead of completely reimagining your image when you ask for a tweak, say, “make the lighting colder” or “change the facial expression,” the model aims to keep everything else intact. 

That’s a big deal, since most generative image tools are famously terrible at iteration.

OpenAI is also redesigning how images live inside ChatGPT. 

According to Fidji Simo, images now get a dedicated sidebar entry that works more like a “creative studio,” complete with trending prompts and preset filters.

Zooming out, this update is part of a bigger push to make ChatGPT more visual overall, from search results with clear sources to quicker, more visual answers. 

The goal, Simo says, is simple: close the gap between what you imagine and what the AI can actually make, preferably before Google does it first.