ChatGPT’s improved image generation is now available for free

ChatGPT’s latest image generator — which has gone viral for its ability to generate uncanny recreations of Studio Ghibli art — is now available for everyone, after OpenAI initially delayed the rollout beyond its paid tiers following heavy demand.

CEO Sam Altman announced on X that the image generation update has “now rolled out to all free users.” There are usage limits, though ChatGPT itself doesn’t elaborate  — saying only that free users have “limited access” to image generation. Altman has previously posted that the free tier would get three image generations a day, however, and that’s exactly what the tool allowed before telling me to pay up.

Powered by the company’s GPT-4o model, the updated image generation initially launched on March 25th, and was always planned to be available across the ChatGPT Plus, Pro, Team, and Free subscription tiers. The free rollout was delayed just a day after launch, as Altman joked that “our GPUs are melting” following high demand. At one point ChatGPT picked up a million new users in a single hour.

Yesterday OpenAI completed a new funding round that saw it raise another $40 billion, the largest funding round for a private tech company in history, leaving the company now valued at $300 billion.