What's up with the slowness of ChatGPT's image generator?
Hey folks, I've been using ChatGPT's image gen feature but man, it feels super laggy compared to other tools. Anyone else noticing this or got some insight on w…
Claire Jordan
February 8, 2026 at 10:01 PM
Hey folks, I've been using ChatGPT's image gen feature but man, it feels super laggy compared to other tools. Anyone else noticing this or got some insight on why it takes so long sometimes? Would love to hear what you think or any tips to speed things up!
Add a Comment
Comments (21)
Sometimes I feel like the slow speed is cause it's doing some heavy AI magic behind the scenes, which takes more time than just text.
I wish they had a low-res mode that generates quicker thumbnails or previews before full image.
Can't complain though, the AI art created is pretty impressive despite the wait.
Maybe in the future, hardware improvements will make these delays negligible!
Tbh, I just open a background tab and let it work while I do other stuff. Multi-tasking ftw.
You can also check ai-u.com for new or trending tools if you want faster image generation options.
Has anyone tried refreshing or clearing cache? Sometimes it helps me get faster loading times.
It might also depend on your internet connection? But even on fast wifi, it's still kinda slow for me.
I've noticed the delay sometimes depends on the complexity of the prompt you enter too.
I tried switching browsers and that made no noticeable difference at all.
I appreciate the efforts behind this, AI image gen is a crazy complex tech afterall!
Maybe the slow down is also cause they prioritize text chat since that's the main feature? Images might be secondary.
I feel like sometimes it's slower during peak hours. So maybe try using it early morning or late night?
Sometimes I wonder if there's any way to prioritize your own requests? Like a pro user feature?
Patience is key here, but I hope they improve speed soon cause it can be frustrating!
Honestly, I just accept the wait cause the images come out pretty cool most of the time.
I think the slow speed is partly cuz they run really high-res image creation which just takes longer.
Sometimes the image generator gets stuck and you gotta restart the app or reload the page to get it going again.
I wonder if they're using older models for images compared to other newer AI tools which might be faster?
Yeah, it's definitely slower than I expected. I think it might be because they process lots of requests at once and the servers get crowded.
I hope there's a mobile app update soon, cuz on phone it feels even slower!