DALL-E is a series of image generation models from OpenAI that create images from text descriptions. The first version appeared in 2021; DALL-E 3 was integrated into ChatGPT in 2023 and made text-to-image generation accessible to a broad audience. OpenAI has since replaced DALL-E with newer image models from the GPT Image series; API access to DALL-E 2 and 3 ended in May 2026 (as of October 2026).
OpenAI is an AI company based in San Francisco, founded in 2015 as a non-profit organisation. Since its restructuring in October 2025, it has consisted of the non-profit OpenAI Foundation, which controls the for-profit OpenAI Group PBC (as of October 2026). OpenAI is best known for ChatGPT and the GPT language models, as well as the DALL·E image generator and the Whisper speech recognition model. Its models are offered through apps and an API.
Stable Diffusion is a family of image generation models that create pictures from a text description. The first version was released in 2022, developed under the lead of Stability AI together with research partners. Technically it is a latent diffusion model that gradually turns image noise into a picture. Because the model weights are published, it can be run and customised locally; commercial use of newer versions is governed by Stability AI's own licence (as of October 2026).
Generative AI refers to AI systems that create new content – text, images, audio, video or program code – rather than merely sorting or assessing existing data. They are based on models that learn patterns from large amounts of data and use them to produce plausible new outputs. In business it is used, for example, to draft emails, summaries, product descriptions or image ideas. Results can contain errors and should be checked before use.
Ideogram is an AI service that generates images from text descriptions, developed by the company of the same name founded in 2022. It is best known for rendering legible text within images, which makes it useful for posters, invitations or social media graphics. It is available as a web app and via an API; model versions and licence terms change regularly (as of October 2026). Usage rights should be checked before commercial use.
