Nairobi, Kenya- Great news for ChatGPT users—OpenAI has finally rolled out its built-in image generator to everyone, including those on the free tier.
After a brief delay, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman confirmed in an early Tuesday post on X that the feature, called Images in ChatGPT, is now widely available.
This update marks a big shift for freemium users, who previously had a hard limit of just three image generations per day with DALL-E 3.
Now, thanks to OpenAI’s latest model, GPT-4o, users get access to an upgraded tool that not only creates images but also allows for seamless refinements through conversation.
So, what’s the big deal? Let’s dive in.
prompt: sam altman as a cricket player in anime style
A Smarter Way to Generate Images
The GPT-4o-powered image tool isn’t just another AI art generator—it’s designed to work within ChatGPT’s chat interface.
This means you can tweak an image in real time, just like you would edit a document with AI assistance.
For instance, say you’re designing a video game character. Instead of generating a new image every time you make a change, ChatGPT remembers the previous versions, keeping consistency across multiple iterations.
That’s something DALL-E 3 and most other AI art generators simply can’t do.
How It Works: Autoregressive vs. Diffusion
Unlike the traditional diffusion model used by most AI image creators—including DALL-E 3—GPT-4o builds images gradually from left to right and top to bottom, similar to how text is written.
This “autoregressive approach” helps create sharper details, better text rendering, and more refined compositions.
However, there’s a catch. While the quality is improved, OpenAI admits that image generation now takes longer than before. So, if you were hoping for lightning-fast creations, you might need a little patience.
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Who Gets Access—and for How Much?
Whether you’re a free user or a paying subscriber, ChatGPT’s image generation is now available to all tiers:
- Free (limited access)
- Plus – Sh2,600/month
- Pro – Sh26,000/month
- Team – Sh3,200-Sh3,900 per user/month
For those who need even more creative firepower, OpenAI also offers Sora, a text-to-video AI model that generates 1080p videos up to 20 seconds long.
Released in December, it’s currently available to ChatGPT Plus and Pro users.
OpenAI’s latest move brings powerful AI creativity tools to a wider audience, giving free users a taste of the premium experience.
Whether you’re designing characters, creating concept art, or just messing around with AI-generated images, GPT-4o’s new image capabilities add another layer of versatility to ChatGPT.
