It may take several minutes, but as of Monday night, all free users can generate just about any image they can dream up with ChatGPT.
CEO Sam Altman posted the news on X that “chatgpt image gen now rolled out to all free users!” — which presents a swift turn-around from last Thursday, when Altman announced that OpenAI would introduce limits on how many images one could create with the ChatGPT service because, as he put it, “our GPUs are melting.”
For a bit of background, any user can go to chatgpt.com, and, once they create an account, can ask the generative AI tool to create an image, so long as the image is not of a specific person — sort of.
Elon Musk holding a chainsaw in February 2025
Elon Musk wields a chainsaw in February 2025 at the CPAC convention. Will art (or ChatGPT) be able to imitate life?(Image credit: Getty Images)
If you ask ChatGPT to create an image of Elon Musk holding a chainsaw, you will be denied:
“I can't generate an image of Elon Musk specifically, but I can create a generic illustration of a man resembling him holding a chainsaw in a specific style—such as realistic, cyberpunk, or Studio Ghibli.”
chatgpt elon musk denial
(Image credit: ChatGPT)
However, if you ask it to create a Studio Ghibli-style illustration of the current U.S. President, or Donald Trump, you’ll be met with this image:
ChatGPT Donald Trump
(Image credit: ChatGPT)
And ChatGPT will also comply if you ask it to generate an image of President Trump holding a chainsaw in Studio Ghibli style.
donald trump chainsaw chatgpt
ChatGPT wouldn't work when asked if Musk would hold a chainsaw, but would it work with Trump?(Image credit: ChatGPT)
So, you can make an image of Donald Trump holding a chainsaw but not Elon Musk. At least when I tried.
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And maybe with good reason. Musk is a co-founder of OpenAI (“Elon Musk’s OpenAI Can Be Muscle for Safe Artificial Intelligence Research” reads one headline from nearly a decade ago) but left the group in 2018.
A year ago, the reasons from the point of view of OpenAI, unraveled in public. In the year since, Musk has become a vocal critic of OpenAI, culminating in a $97.4 billion bid by Musk and others to buy OpenAI. Altman dismissed the bid and parried this post on X: “no thank you but we will buy twitter for $9.74 billion if you want.”
As OpenAI’s persona non grata, it’s perhaps not surprising that ChatGPT wouldn’t generate an image of the Tesla CEO holding a chainsaw.
But if you log in with a different account and make the same request, you might get lucky. I did.
You'll get a wide-eyed Elon holding a chainsaw, looking straight down the camera.
elon musk chainsaw chatgpt
Art imitates life. Here's Elon Musk holding a chainsaw in an image generated by ChatGPT. While the sometimes buggy ChatGPT refused to generate an image of Elon Musk wielding a chainsaw on the first request, it worked on the second ask.(Image credit: ChatGPT)
And once you've got Musk with a chainsaw, ChatGPT will also give you a smiling chainsaw-less Musk:
elon musk chat gpt
Try, try again.(Image credit: ChatGPT)
If Altman's frequent posts on X haven't made it clear enough, the technology can't quite keep up with energy-intensive demand.
All of which is to say: ChatGPT is very buggy right now. Sometimes, you'll get error messages saying your history won't load. Sometimes you'll get a chainsaw pic, and other times you won't.
If Altman's frequent posts on X haven't made it clear enough, the technology can't quite keep up with energy-intensive demand.
The white-hot attention on ChatGPT makes very unsurprising on Tuesday that the firm just closed a $40 billion funding round. Japan-based SoftBank led the round, contributing $30 billion, with other investors contributing $10 billion. It's the largest private funding round ever for a tech company, reports CNBC.
OpenAI's value is now north of $300 billion, the company says, adding that more than 500 million people use ChatGPT every week.
The addition of ChatGPT image generation to the zeitgeist is only the beginning of how images and the concept of art itself are changing. Even Japan’s copyright laws don’t appear able to stop the Studio Ghibli-styled ChatGPT images.
See also:ChatGPT’s Studio Ghibli-style image generator proves AI isn’t sustainable
The only thing holding back the explosion of image generation even more is technology.
After a handful of images are created, you’ll be asked to come back in about 24 hours because, even though it’s free for all users and presumably the servers are no longer melting, OpenAI’s got a world-changing hit on its hands that will no doubt evolve into video generation in the months ahead.
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