comes to OpenAI’s image generator.
Sam Altman, OpenAI’s CEO, while happy about how everyone was interacting with the latest update from the artificial intelligence platform, has stated that the company’s GPUs are melting. Altman also added that the company is limiting the usage of the new feature.
Put more simply, the company is trying to limit the usage of the AI image generator in order for the GPUs to remain under control. Going further, Altman also said that the free tier offered to all its users will only be able to produce three images per day.
Even more so, Altman wrote in a post from X that “It’s super fun seeing people love images in ChatGPT. But our GPUs are melting. We are going to temporarily introduce some rate limits while we work on making it more efficient. Hopefully it won’t be long! ChatGPT’s free tier will get 3 generations per day soon.”.
This came as a response to everyone’s joy and enthusiasm when it comes to the image generator’s capability. Altman also had changed his profile picture from X, with a photo that was generated as a Ghibli image.
OpenAI released the new native image generator on Tuesday, receiving an overwhelming response. The company introduced its latest tool as a high-quality image generator within the ChatGPT interface. The tool comes with a solution for generating and creating high-quality images, diagrams, logos, stock photos, infographics, business cards, and really all images you might need.
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it's super fun seeing people love images in chatgpt.
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.
— Sam Altman (@sama)
March 27, 2025 Even more so, one of the most noteworthy features is the fact that the artificial intelligence tool can use external images as a starting point for art, which can later be modified into a painting or even a professional headshot.
However, it is also worth mentioning what a GPU is. As Altman talked about how the new image generator is melting the GPUs, I figured that it is worth mentioning what is the meaning of a GPU is.
Generative AI tools such as ChatGPT, DALL-E, and even autonomous cars rely heavily on massive amounts of computing power. And, for this to work, the heart of this computing power is the GPU, or the graphics processing unit. Even more so, in order to understand why GPUs are melting, you need to know how they work and why modern AI systems rely heavily on them.
As our computers rely on the CPU (central processing unit) in order to fulfill tasks such as playing music, loading apps, running the web browser, and so on. It is the brain of your computer, the one that helps you multitask and get everything ready. On the other hand, AI systems are far more complex than a classic computer.
Meaning that the AI systems need even more power in order to work properly. This is where GPUs come into play, with massive amounts of data, and all happening at once. And when it comes to ChatGPT, they demand substantially more power than a video game would need. We are talking about billions or even trillions of the power needed to solve tasks and deliver the needed responses.
So, what Sam Altman meant when he said that OpenAI’s GPUs were melting is that they are being pushed to the limit as a response to the high user demand, running all the time at maximum capacity.
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