# ChatGPT can now make animated GIFs, and keeps the character the same from frame to frame

> OpenAI's Images 2.6 model turns a prompt or a photo into a GIF you can retime and edit frame by frame, for every ChatGPT and Codex user.

- URL: https://devisdead.ai/news/chatgpt-can-now-make-animated-gifs-and-keeps-the-character-the-same-from-frame-t
- Published: 2026-11-04T23:12:32Z
- Author: DevIsDead Newsroom
- Section: AI
- Tags: openai, chatgpt, image generation, gifs
- Originally reported by The Decoder (https://the-decoder.com/chatgpt-can-now-turn-text-prompts-and-photos-into-animated-gifs-with-openais-images-2-6-model/).

ChatGPT makes GIFs now. It's powered by Images 2.6, OpenAI's latest image model, and is reaching every ChatGPT and Codex user on the web, desktop and mobile apps, Matthias Bastian writes for [The Decoder](https://the-decoder.com/chatgpt-can-now-turn-text-prompts-and-photos-into-animated-gifs-with-openais-images-2-6-model/), citing The Verge.

You start from a text prompt or an uploaded photo. ChatGPT produces a run of slightly different frames and strings them together like a flipbook, and you can then change the animation speed or edit single frames. OpenAI's demo asked for a dancing cat.

## Why this is harder than it looks

The trick that makes it work is consistency. Older image models tended to redraw a character a little differently every time, which is fine for one picture and fatal for animation: your cat becomes a slightly different cat in every frame. By The Decoder's read, Images 2.6 holds the character steady enough to stay recognizable from start to finish.

OpenAI also says the model speeds up image generation in general. Developers get two API variants, GPT-Image-2.6 "Flare" for efficiency and "Sunburst" for higher quality; both names first appeared with Image 2.5.

The number worth noting is usage. OpenAI says people now make well over four billion images a week through ChatGPT and the API, a billion more than in September.

Details are still thin. The source doesn't say how long a GIF can run, how many frames you get or what the API versions cost, so treat this as a first look rather than a review.

If hand-making reaction GIFs for the team chat was your one creative outlet at work, it just joined the automation backlog.

**[Scoreboard](/scoreboard) update:** AI +1. ChatGPT learns to animate, keeping one character consistent across every frame.

Stay undead.