What makes GPT Image News different from other AI news sites?

GPT Image News focuses exclusively on AI image generation and publishes original reporting on unreleased models. We cover leaks, codename testing, and primary-source benchmarks — not rewrites of vendor press releases. Every story is dated, sourced, and credibility-rated.

Who writes for GPT Image News?

GPT Image News is an independent community-run publication. Editorial is anonymous to protect sources and avoid retaliation from vendors. All claims are sourced to publicly available material — LM Arena logs, app decompiles, vendor docs, and community screenshots.

Are you affiliated with OpenAI, Google, or ByteDance?

No. GPT Image News is independent. We receive no funding or editorial input from any AI vendor. All trademarks belong to their respective owners.

What is the 'Duct Tape' model everyone is talking about?

'Duct Tape' is the community nickname for three anonymous image models that appeared on LM Arena on April 4, 2026: packingtape-alpha, maskingtape-alpha, and gaffertape-alpha. They showed near-perfect text rendering and beat Nano Banana Pro in blind comparisons before being pulled. They are widely believed to be OpenAI's unreleased GPT Image 2.

How often do you publish?

Breaking news: as it happens. Weekly recap: every Monday morning UTC. Benchmark articles: ad-hoc when a new model surfaces. Follow the homepage or subscribe to the weekly email.

How do you handle corrections?

We correct any factual error within 24 hours of verification. Corrections are noted inline with a timestamp. If a source later turns out to be wrong, we update both the article and the leak timeline entry.

Yes — email desk@gptimage.news. We protect source anonymity and verify every tip against at least one primary source before publishing.

Do you review image models yourself?

Yes. We run the same prompt sets through every major image model (Nano Banana 2, Seedream 5.0, GPT Image 1.5, FLUX.2, Midjourney) and publish raw outputs. When GPT Image 2 goes public, it will be included the same day.

AI Image API Cost Calculator — GPT Image 2, Nano Banana 2, Seedream (2026)

Name: GPT Image News
Author: GPT Image News

Model	Per image	Monthly
Seedream 5.0 Litecheapest ByteDance · Cheapest mid-tier, includes web-search feature	$0.0350	$35
GPT Image 1.5 OpenAI · General availability	$0.0380	$38
GPT Image 2 (predicted)predicted OpenAI · Unreleased — prediction from our cost analysis	$0.0500	$50
Seedream 5.0 ByteDance · Strong artistic quality	$0.0500	$50
Nano Banana 2 Google · 50% batch discount available on 1000+ requests	$0.0790	$79
Nano Banana Pro Google · Premium tier, strongest on photorealism	$0.1800	$180

Model

Per image

Monthly

Seedream 5.0 Litecheapest

ByteDance · Cheapest mid-tier, includes web-search feature

$0.0350

$35

GPT Image 1.5

OpenAI · General availability

$0.0380

$38

GPT Image 2 (predicted)predicted

OpenAI · Unreleased — prediction from our cost analysis

$0.0500

$50

Seedream 5.0

ByteDance · Strong artistic quality

$0.0500

$50

Nano Banana 2

Google · 50% batch discount available on 1000+ requests

$0.0790

$79

Nano Banana Pro

Google · Premium tier, strongest on photorealism

$0.1800

$180

How to use this calculator

Enter the number of images you plan to generate per month and the quality tier you need. The table below shows the estimated monthly cost for each major image model. GPT Image 2 pricing is predicted based on our inference cost deep-dive; actual numbers will update on release day.

Caveats

Prices are per image and exclude enterprise negotiated rates, batch discounts, and input token costs for image-to-image.
Nano Banana 2 offers a 50% batch discount on 1000+ requests — this calculator does not auto-apply it (toggle below).
GPT Image 2 pricing is our prediction, not an OpenAI quote.
Rate limits and throughput may make the cheapest model impractical for your volume — check vendor docs before committing.