ChatGPT can now turn a written prompt or an uploaded photo into an animated GIF. The new option adds a short-form animation workflow to the chatbot’s image tools, with controls for changing playback speed, editing individual frames and sharing the result.
From a prompt to a moving image
Users can describe the GIF they want in ChatGPT, or start with a photo they upload. That gives them two ways to begin: build an animation from a written idea, or use an existing image as its starting point.
OpenAI’s example shows a request for a dancing cat GIF. ChatGPT generates the animation and offers ways to review and adjust it, including changing how quickly it plays and looking at its frames one by one.
The frame-by-frame view matters because an animation is made up of individual images shown in sequence. Being able to edit a frame gives users a way to refine part of the motion without treating the GIF only as a single, finished picture.
More control over the result
The update includes three practical controls: animation speed, individual frames and sharing. Playback speed can change how quickly the sequence appears to move, while frame editing provides a way to adjust specific moments in the animation.
Together, those tools make the process more interactive than simply asking for an image. A user can describe the desired GIF, inspect what ChatGPT creates, and make adjustments to the movement or its component frames before sharing it.
Before this change, ChatGPT did not generate GIFs natively in one step. The new feature brings that capability into the chatbot’s existing image experience, so users can request an animation directly instead of stopping at a still image.
Images 2.6 also speeds up image generation
GIF creation is arriving alongside OpenAI’s Images 2.6 model update. The company says the update also makes image generation in ChatGPT faster, extending the release beyond animated files.
OpenAI says users now generate over 4 billion images per week across ChatGPT and its API, up from the 3 billion per week it reported in September. The figures point to the scale of image generation across the company’s products, while the new GIF tools add another format people can create and edit.
The release also includes GPT-Image-2.6 Flare and Sunburst in the API. OpenAI describes these as options for faster and higher-quality image generation, bringing the update to developers using the API as well as people creating images in ChatGPT.
Where the update is available
Images 2.6 is rolling out to all ChatGPT and Codex users across the web, desktop and mobile apps. The announcement describes GIF creation as part of that rollout, alongside the faster image generation capabilities.
For users, the main change is a new path from an idea or photo to a shareable animation. They can ask ChatGPT to make a GIF, adjust its speed, work on individual frames and pass the result along, all within the image-generation experience.