OpenAI releases Images 2.6 with animated GIFs and SVG export
It is live in ChatGPT, Codex and the API, where developers pick between two models: Flare for speed and Sunburst for detail.
TL;DR
OpenAI released Images 2.6 on 4 November 2026 in ChatGPT, Codex and the API, and says it makes images 50% faster than the model before it.
It adds animated GIFs, SVG export and image markup in the API, plus a setting for how much planning the model does on a scene.
In the API, GPT-Image-2.6 Flare is the fast model, as quick as six seconds an image, and Sunburst keeps more detail across edits.
What is new
OpenAI says people now make 4 billion images a week across ChatGPT, Codex and the API. Images 2.6 is in ChatGPT and Codex on every subscription tier, on desktop, mobile and the web, and in the API for developers.
- GIFs: the model animates a mascot, a product shot or a pen sketch into a short loop.
- Image markup, already in ChatGPT, comes to the API, so an app can mark the part of an image it wants changed.
- SVG export, for designs that go on a website, into an app or to print.
- A complexity setting: low for quick edits, medium or high for scenes with many elements. Image quality stays a separate setting.
Two models in the API
GPT-Image-2.6 Flare is the fast one: at low quality it can return an image in about six seconds, and OpenAI says it lays out posters and product images better. GPT-Image-2.6 Sunburst is for detail, and at medium or high quality it keeps characters, products and brand details consistent from one edit to the next. Prices for both are on OpenAI's API pricing page.
The early users OpenAI names include OpenArt, Figma Weave and Picsart, and Town, a startup building an AI work assistant that animates a character as its typing indicator.
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