OpenAI Relaxes ChatGPT Image Restrictions: Public Figures, Symbols, and AI Art Styles Now Allowed

OpenAI updates ChatGPT’s image generation rules, allowing depictions of public figures, symbols, and AI-stylized art.
Matilda
OpenAI Relaxes ChatGPT Image Restrictions: Public Figures, Symbols, and AI Art Styles Now Allowed
This week, OpenAI launched a new image generator in ChatGPT, which quickly went viral for its ability to create Studio Ghibli-style images. Beyond the pastel illustrations, GPT-4o’s native image generator significantly upgrades ChatGPT’s capabilities, improving picture editing, text rendering, and spatial representation. Image:Jakub Porzycki/NurPhoto / Getty Images However, one of the most notable changes OpenAI made this week involves its content moderation policies, which now allow ChatGPT to, upon request, generate images depicting public figures, hateful symbols, and racial features. OpenAI previously rejected these types of prompts for being too controversial or harmful. But now, the company has “evolved” its approach, according to a blog post published Thursday by OpenAI’s model behavior lead, Joanne Jang. “We’re shifting from blanket refusals in sensitive areas to a more precise approach focused on preventing real-world harm,” said Jang. “The goal is to embrace humility: recognizin…