In an addendum to the GPT-4o System Card, OpenAI says it is “not blocking the capability to generate adult public figures” and that public figures can opt out

Introducing 4o Image Generation. When OpenAI first announced GPT-4o back in May 2024 one of the most exciting features …

Simon Willison's Weblog 2025-03-26 Simon Willison

Context & Ripple Effects

The clarification accompanied OpenAI’s native GPT-4o image-generation rollout across ChatGPT subscription tiers, extending a model whose text-and-image capabilities had previously reached Plus and Team users through the earlier GPT-4o access expansion.

It marks a more defined policy boundary after OpenAI had previously held back broad multimodal deployment amid concerns including facial-recognition abuse, as covered in its earlier caution around image-capable GPT-4.

First-order effects

OpenAI permits GPT-4o image generation involving adult public figures rather than applying a blanket block, while offering those people an opt-out route.
Public figures gain a stated control mechanism over likeness generation; users gain access to a category of image requests that the company says it does not categorically prohibit.

Second-order effects

Making GPT-4o image generation native across subscription tiers, as in the concurrent ChatGPT rollout, puts greater operational weight on opt-out handling and enforcement rather than on a universal pre-generation restriction.
The policy draws a sharper distinction between adult public figures and other likeness or image-safety cases, making policy clarity and response processes a competitive part of image-model access.

Third-order effects

If providers increasingly govern synthetic likenesses through opt-outs, image-AI policy may shift from blanket capability bans toward permission and redress systems tied to identifiable people.
That approach could make the reliability, scope, and administration of user controls a central frontier-model governance question, especially as image tools reach broader audiences.

The trend: Generative-image providers are moving toward operational governance of identity and likeness risks—using scoped access and controls rather than only blanket model restrictions.

Discussion

@cooltimesonline @cooltimesonline on bluesky
We need money so badly for our scam machine that we are targeting the scam economy directly [embedded post]
@edzitron.com Ed Zitron on bluesky
Yeah they're desperate as shit lol [embedded post]
@filatov.design @filatov.design on threads
Just played around with ChatGPT's new image feature — you can swap faces with a simple prompt now. Here's a fun example: Mark Zuckerberg in the Severance poster. Pretty wild...
@elder_plinius @elder_plinius on x
you can just generate fake IDs, documents, and signatures now 👀 [image]
@kyliebytes Kylie Robison on x
oh. ok [image]
@zestular @zestular on x
“please create tony soprano in the style of studio ghibli” [image]
@simonw Simon Willison on x
OpenAI's new multi-modal image output, added to GPT-4o and ChatGPT this morning, finally gave me the selfie with a bear I've always wanted https://simonwillison.net/...
@simonw Simon Willison on x
It is annoyingly difficult to tell if an image generated by ChatGPT used DALL-E or the new GPT-4o native image generation
@tb_99999 Tom Bender on threads
impressed with the new 4o image generator. takes some iterative prompting to dial in, but the loading animation is beautiful so there's that.
@sama Sam Altman on x
we are launching a new thing today—images in chatgpt! two things to say about it: 1. it's an incredible technology/product. i remember seeing some of the first images come out of this model and having a hard time they were really made by AI. we think people will love it, and w…
@tobi Tobi Lutke on x
How is this even real? OpenAI cooked [image]
@nickadobos Nick Dobos on x
New ChatGPT image gen can draw sexy men but not sexy women [image]
@krishnanrohit Rohit on x
Had early access to this, and it's the best image gen and editing tool that I've tried so far. It's the first (and only) one which can make and edit multiple characters correctly, especially when it's two or more dinosaurs. [image]
@mattinthemittel Matt Mittelsteadt on x
I have to try this still, but the text fidelity in the examples is incredible. Finally image gen might be getting passed the garbled text era. [image]
@zacharynado Zachary Nado on x
it wouldn't be a Gemini launch without an OAI launch, congratulations to the team! it's awesome they were able to de-risk the model coincidentally just in time [image]
@minchoi Min Choi on x
GPT-4o just got an INSANE upgrade! OpenAI just dropped native Image Generation in GPT-4o. Image & Text quality is insane. 100% AI 10 wild examples (prompts included): 1. Polaroid style photographs [image]
@emollick Ethan Mollick on x
Even with multimodal image generation, ChatGPT only gets 1 out of 3 of the hard challenges of image creation: ✅Horse riding an astronaut ❌Clock reading 5:30 ❌Full to the brim glass of wine Presumably, the training image data is mostly not-full glasses and clocks set to 10:10 [ima…
@reidhoffman Reid Hoffman on x
The new 4o image generation is impressive. Over the past months, have seen many people asking: “How are these image generation models applicable in the real world?” New model makes it very clear! [image]
@emostaque Emad on x
“Make a detailed image prompt for a super cool and detailed infographic explaining the core elements of this blog post and release https://www.ii.inc/...” Pretty crazy for one shot, great job @OpenAI team 👏 Gonna be infographics everywhere 👀 [image]
@deepfates Web Weaver on x
Okay, this is pretty impressive (gpt 4o native image generation) [image]
@sherwinwu Sherwin Wu on x
My top use case for GPT-4o native image output right now: using it to imagine home reno projects in our new place. i.e. look at this potential built-in bookshelf / reading bench — rendered in one shot! [image]
@nickfloats Nick St. Pierre on x
Wow. GPT-4o actually one shot this: a photorealistic image of two witches in their 20s (one ash balayage, one with long wavy auburn hair) reading a street sign. Context: a city street in a random street in Williamsburg, NY with a pole covered entirely by numerous detailed [image]
@emollick Ethan Mollick on x
I've had access to the new GPT-4o image generator for a bit: “now i need you to perfectly illustrate the moment that Elvis met Napolean at waterloo” “make it photorealistic” “napoleon is wearing a rubber duck on his head elvis's pants have the ideal gas law printed on them” [imag…
@deryatr_ Derya Unutmaz on x
Here are more examples of @OpenAI's new GPT-4o image generation. The 1st is a cool DNA helix. For the 2nd, I asked it to turn DNA into a wireframe. For 3rd, I asked for DNA wrapped around histones forming chromosomes. The fourth is inside a cell-I then asked it to annotate it! [i…
@kimmonismus @kimmonismus on x
What a day: OpenAI revelas native image gen! After Gemini 2.5 pro thinkin was released, OpenAI followed suit and released its own native image generation model in GPT-4o. At this point, it has to be said: hats off to Google, who were faster this time and released their native [im…
@sama Sam Altman on x
@NickADobos hot guy though!
@sama Sam Altman on x
@NickADobos thats a bug, should be allowed, will fix
@minimaxir Max Woolf on x
Apparently no one can determine if when using ChatGPT you get the old DALL-E 3 or the new GPT-4o image generation, so everyone is potentially dismissing GPT-4o out of confusion. 10/10 product roll out, no notes.
@deanwball Dean W. Ball on x
“we think respecting the very wide bounds society will eventually choose to set for AI is the right thing to do”
@openai @openai on x
Create or transform images into a variety of styles with 4o image generation. [video]
@openai @openai on x
4o's ability to precisely blend text with imagery turns image generation into a tool for visual communication. [video]
@openai @openai on x
GPT-4o can build upon images and text in chat context, ensuring consistency throughout. [video]
@openai @openai on x
GPT-4o image generation excels at accurately rendering text, precisely following prompts, and leveraging 4o's inherent knowledge base and chat context. https://openai.com/...
@openai @openai on x
Creating and customizing images is as simple as chatting using GPT‑4o—just describe what you need, including any specifics like aspect ratio, exact colors using hex codes, or a transparent background. [video]
@openai @openai on x
GPT‑4o's image generation follows complex prompts with attention to detail. [video]
@minimaxir Max Woolf on x
OpenAI's livestream of GPT-4o Image Generation shows that it is slowwwwwwwwww
r/ChatGPT r on reddit
Introducing 4o Image Generation

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