Last week, OpenAI unveiled two major releases with some astounding capabilities. First, the company released ChatGPT Images 2.0, which goes beyond basic image generation and adds the ability to include text and context derived from real data. Second, the company introduced its latest frontier model, GPT-5.5, which is a better-and-faster spec bump from GPT-5.4.

Also: I tried ChatGPT Images 2.0: A fun, huge leap - and surprisingly useful for real work

After its release last week, I ran ChatGPT Images 2.0 through a series of tests to prove its context-aware capabilities, and it did a great job. But what about basic image generation? Did it get better, stay at the same level, or somehow get worse?

To find out, I went back to the basic image-generator testing protocols I usually use and compared the new ChatGPT Images 2.0 to Google Gemini's Nano Banana. When I ran these tests in December 2025, Nano Banana scored an impressive 93%, compared to ChatGPT's fairly disappointing 74%. ChatGPT's numbers were so poor mostly because the AI refused to run our pop-culture tests.

Rather than compare ChatGPT Images 2.0 to my previous Nano Banana results, I'm completely re-running the Nano Banana tests along with the new ChatGPT Images 2.0 tests. That approach gives us a better metric for how both AIs perform in the here and now.

Also: I put GPT-5.5 through a 10-round test: It scored 93/100, losing points only for exuberance