ChatGPT Adds Animated GIF Creation With OpenAI’s Images 2.6 Model

ChatGPT can now create animated GIFs using OpenAI’s Images 2.6 model. Users can generate a GIF from a text prompt or an uploaded photo, then adjust the animation speed or edit individual frames. The feature is rolling out to ChatGPT and Codex users on web, desktop, and mobile apps, according to the article.

The key upgrade is consistency across frames: the model can keep a character recognizable as it moves through slight variations. OpenAI’s example prompt, “Can you make a gif of a cat dancing?”, produces a flipbook-style animation from multiple related images. That consistency is what makes short AI-generated animations more usable than a simple set of disconnected stills.

For everyday users, the update turns ChatGPT into a lightweight animation tool for quick visual ideas, reactions, and prompt-based experiments. Beyond GIFs, Images 2.6 is also meant to speed up image generation overall. For developers, OpenAI is releasing GPT-Image-2.6 “Flare” for efficient generation and “Sunburst” for higher-quality image generation.

OpenAI says users now generate well over four billion images per week through ChatGPT and the API. The GIF feature shows how image generation is moving from static outputs toward editable, multi-frame visual workflows. The practical takeaway: prompts and photos can now become short animations directly inside ChatGPT, with basic controls for speed and frame-level changes.