OpenAI CEO Sam Altman says ChatGPT Images 2.0 ‘loves India’ as users create 1 billion images: Biggest trends include ...

TOI Tech Desk / TIMESOFINDIA.COM / May 18, 2026, 09:45 IST

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Sam Altman

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman has revealed that Indians have created over 1 billion ChatGPT Images 2.0 since its launch. The company introduced ChatGPT Images 2.0, an updated version of its image generation model, ChatGPT Images in April this year. Announcing the new mode, OpenAI then said that the new model is designed to handle complex image tasks and produce visuals that are more precise and usable. Sharing a post on X recently, Altman wrote: “ChatGPT Images 2.0 (loves) India. Already more than 1 billion images created there; awesome to see”.As mentioned above, ChatGPT Images 2.0 debuted in April. A week after the launch, ChatGPT Images 2.0 became a hit in India. In a press release earlier this month, OpenAI said that India has the highest number of users for ChatGPT’s Images 2.0. “ChatGPT’s latest image model is quickly becoming part of India’s internet culture, especially among young users experimenting with identity, aesthetics, and storytelling online,” the company then said..

ChatGPT Images 2.0 photos cross 1 billion in India: Biggest trends

Earlier this month, OpenAI revealed the biggest ChatGPT Images 2.0 trends emerging in India. These include:

Universal Lighting → turning everyday photos into dramatic studio-style portraits
Headshot → polished LinkedIn, creator, and celebrity-style profile images
Anime → manga-inspired transformations and stylised avatars
Spring → soft pastel, dreamy seasonal aesthetics
Style Me → AI-generated fashion transformations and outfit concepts
Flash → paparazzi-style editorial imagery
Fantasy Newspaper → users creating fictional newspaper covers starring themselves
Enhance → restoring and upgrading older or low-quality photos
Tarot → mystical card-inspired portraits and storytelling visuals
Blueprint → futuristic architecture, room redesigns, and visual planning concepts

Like many other markets, in India, there are also country-level prompts that are growing in popularity.

These include cinematic portrait collage, Y2K romantic portrait, and others. “The trend reflects how AI image generation in India is increasingly blending with creator culture, fandoms, fashion, and social media identity, rather than being limited to traditional “AI productivity” use-cases. And if the first week is anything to go by, ChatGPT Images 2.0 may be less about replacing creativity, and more about giving millions of people a new visual language for the internet,” the release stated.

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