According to an OpenAI blog post, the new ChatGPT Images is rolling out to all ChatGPT users and API users globally today. The company said it works across models, so users don’t need to select a specific model in the drop-down menu in order to use it. 

“We believe we’re still at the beginning of what image generation can enable,” the company said in the blog post. “Today’s update is a meaningful step forward with more to come, from finer-grained edits to richer, more detailed outputs across languages.” 

While it may seem like a Christmas present for loyal ChatGPT users, OpenAI staffers have been the busy elves responding to Santa—er, CEO—Sam Altman’s post-Thanksgiving “Code Red” memo, which was meant to push the company to improve ChatGPT over the next eight weeks amid intense competition from rivals, most notably Google. 

Google’s Gemini model had been gaining steam after its image generation model, Nano Banana, was released in August. Google said monthly active users grew from 450 million in July to 650 million in October. 

The company’s latest version, Nano Banana Pro, went viral after its November 20 release, thanks to the model’s newfound ability to handle text in images cleanly (something that had been a thorny problem for years). Users were also wowed by Nano Banana Pro’s ability to produce diagrams and infographics that made sense, and the fact that it allowed people to edit their images rather than regenerating them from scratch. 

Last week, OpenAI released the latest version of its text model, GPT-5.2; since then, industry-watchers have waited to see if the company would release a new image model before the New Year. But will it be good enough to outpace Google? 

Fidji Simo, OpenAI’s CEO of applications, wrote in a Substack post that ChatGPT’s chat interface was not originally designed to go beyond text, so the new image model is accompanied by a “dedicated entrypoint” in ChatGPT for images that works more like a “creative studio,” available in the sidebar through the mobile app and on the web.

“The new image viewing and editing screens make it easier to create images that match your vision or get inspiration from trending prompts and preset filters,” she wrote. “On top of that, our new model is faster and better at following detailed instructions so you get more accurate edits and creative transformations.” The model can keep key elements like lighting, composition, and likeness consistent between what users input and what the model outputs, “so the results stay much closer to what you imagined,” she added. 

Still, Nano Banana Pro may still have an early mindshare advantage. In a recent interview with Fortune, Allie Miller, an AI advisor and investor, discussed how she recently attended a Shark Tank-type event hosted by Mark Cuban and was struck by what happened when Cuban said the words “Nano Banana.” 

She expected that the mention of Google’s whimsically-named AI image generator might cause confusion among the thousands of people in the audience, who Miller described as mostly new to AI. Instead, the crowd nodded in recognition.

Like ChatGPT itself, she explained, “there are certain AI tools or models that you just start hearing over and over and over again that gain such a big pop culture moment.” 

Whether OpenAI’s elves can make its new ChatGPT Images as irresistible as the most sought-after toys of the season remains to be seen. But the moment—coming amid the company’s Code Red—underscores a broader reality: While model quality still matters in the AI race, it’s increasingly a battle for consumer hearts and minds.

Earlier this year, Garman said replacing junior software developers with AI was “one of the dumbest things I’ve ever heard,” and it’s a point he stands by. In an interview with WIRED published on Tuesday, Garman said displacing junior engineers and employees with new tech is a bad business move. 

Entry-level workers are usually paid the least, meaning getting rid of their positions first in favor of higher-paid senior talent is not a cost-effective strategy, he noted. Moreso, these fresh-faced young workers are likely recent college graduates with energy, excitement, and deep familiarity with AI tools. Eliminating them, in Garman’s eyes, would be myopic.

“At some point that whole thing explodes on itself,” Garman said. “If you have no talent pipeline that you’re building and no junior people that you’re mentoring and bringing up through the company, we often find that that’s where we get some of the best ideas.”

“You’ve gotta think longer term about the health of a company,” he added. “And just saying ‘OK great, we’re never going to hire junior people anymore,’ that’s just a nonstarter for anyone who’s trying to build a long-term company.”

A Stanford University study published in August suggested AI is already starting to have its way with entry-level workers. The research revealed that “the AI revolution” is having a “significant and disproportionate impact on entry-level workers in the U.S. labor market,” particularly 22- to 25-year-old software engineers and customer service agents.

AI’s workforce shakeups 

Despite Garman’s adamance on AI not replacing young workers, Amazon’s own automation advancements have coincided with the company laying off thousands of employees this fall. The tech giant announced in October it would slash 14,000 jobs, mostly middle management positions. Earlier this year, Amazon laid off a smaller portion of workers from divisions including AWS, its Wondery podcast division, and the consumer devices unit. 

Rather than attribute the axings to AI, Amazon instead said the layoffs were part of an effort to make the business more efficient after a period of growth, as well as resolve cultural mismatches that emerged in the workforce.

“The announcement that we made a few days ago was not really financially driven, and it’s not even really AI-driven, not right now at least,” CEO Andy Jassy said at the time. “It’s culture.”

Still, AI advancements are poised to impact Amazon’s workforce. The memo outlining the fall layoffs cites the transforming technology of AI as the impetus for improving workflows with leaner teams. A June memo from the company said AI efficiency gains will “reduce our total corporate workforce,” and a New York Times investigation published in October reported Amazon had a lofty goal to automate 75% of its work, translating to about 600,000 jobs the tech giant would not ultimately need to hire for.

AWS did not immediately respond to Fortune’s request for comment.

Garman isn’t naive to the workplace upheaval AI could bring. He predicted the technology will initially create a burst of new jobs, as well as reduce several roles, but he was certain that AI would ultimately transform the nature of work.

“One of the things that I tell our own employees is ‘Your job is going to change.’ There’s no two ways about it,” he told WIRED.

The 49-year-old AWS CEO said employees have the potential to have more impact and responsibilities as a result of AI, but it will require learning news skills, as well as organizing teams differently. While entry-level workers should not be the primary victims of AI’s workplace shake-ups, other jobs and industries will be impacted, Garman noticed.

“If they don’t, they’ll most likely get left behind by people who move faster and do change,” he said. “There is going to be some disruption in there for sure. Like there is no question in my mind.”