OpenAI has temporarily set a limit on image generation in ChatGPT due to overwhelming demand, CEO Sam Altman announced.
“It’s super fun seeing people love images in ChatGPT, but our GPUs are melting,” he wrote on X today. He didn’t specify the exact limit but assured users that it’s only a short-term measure while OpenAI works on handling the surge in requests more efficiently.
it's super fun seeing people love images in chatgpt.
— Sam Altman (@sama) March 27, 2025
but our GPUs are melting.
we are going to temporarily introduce some rate limits while we work on making it more efficient. hopefully won't be long!
chatgpt free tier will get 3 generations per day soon.
The high demand had already caused OpenAI to delay access to the image generator for free-tier users. However, that step wasn’t enough to relieve the strain on the company’s systems. Altman mentioned that free users will “soon” be able to generate up to three images per day.
ChatGPT’s image tool now runs on OpenAI’s latest GPT-4o model, which produces more realistic images than before. It also improves on past challenges, such as rendering text correctly in images. OpenAI described the upgrade as a “step change” compared to previous versions.
But the new rate limits serve as another reminder of just how much computing power and energy go into generating images within ChatGPT. OpenAI is working to scale up and improve efficiency, so these restrictions may not last long.
