Simon Willison · · 1 min read

Introducing ChatGPT Images 2.5

Mirrored from Simon Willison for archival readability. Support the source by reading on the original site.

Introducing ChatGPT Images 2.5

OpenAI's image generation models are apparently used "more than 3 billion images across ChatGPT Images and the GPT‑Image models in the API". This latest release improves their instruction-following ability across multiple turns, responds faster, and "is better at preserving the subjects in your reference photos".

There are two new model IDs in the API: gpt-image-2.5-sunburst and gpt-image-2.5-flare. Based on this I think Sunburst is the stronger option:

Choose Sunburst for workflows where editing precision matters most, and Flare for fast, high-quality everyday image generation.

I upgraded my openai_image.py CLI tool to support passing in one or more reference images, so now this works:

uv run https://tools.simonwillison.net/python/openai_image.py \
  'add a raccoon scientist studying the chart thoughtfully' \
  -i https://static.simonwillison.net/static/2026/openai-agent-usage.webp \
  -m gpt-image-2.5-sunburst

This is the original image, and here's what I got back from that prompt to "add a raccoon scientist studying the chart thoughtfully":

Line chart with cartoon illustration. Title: "Usage of internal coding agents is increasing significantly—Median researcher". Y-axis labeled "Daily $ / researcher" from 0 to 700; x-axis shows Feb 2026, Apr 2026, Jun 2026, Aug 2026. A blue line stays near zero through April, rises gradually to around 150 by June and July, then climbs steeply to about 600 by late August. In the foreground a cartoon raccoon in glasses and a white lab coat, chin in hand, holds a clipboard at a desk with a mug bearing the OpenAI logo, some printed charts, and a stack of three books titled "AI AGENTS", "SOFTWARE ENGINEERING", and "PRODUCTIVITY". An OpenAI logo appears in the top right corner.

Tags: tools, ai, openai, generative-ai, uv, text-to-image

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