OpenAI Now Produces 4B Images Weekly As Images 2.6 Access Expands

OpenAI now processes more than 4B image requests weekly across its API and consumer apps, up from 3B two months ago, following the global rollout of Images 2.6 to all subscription tiers. The update adds animated GIF creation and reference image saving, with the GPT-Image-2.6 Flare and Sunburst API models reportedly generating images 50% faster on average. However, some developers say the Sunburst model's speeds are similar to the previous version, and medium-quality API image generation now costs 3.3x the tokens per image.