OpenAI is retiring the official DALL·E GPT in ChatGPT on August 30, 2026. Image creation itself is not going away; the job moves to ChatGPT Images. What does need attention is anything still sitting inside DALL·E GPT conversations, because those pictures have to be downloaded before the deadline. Less than a month remains.

DALL·E GPT stops working after August 30

The plan surfaced on July 31, when the ChatGPT release notes stated that the official DALL·E GPT would be retired on August 30 and advised users to download any images they want to keep before that date.

Only the official DALL·E GPT published by OpenAI is affected. GPTs that users built themselves, with image generation switched on in their capability settings, are outside the scope of this change and keep working as before.

The detail worth watching is where the pictures live. Images created in ChatGPT are collected under Images, where they can be browsed and reused later, but once the DALL·E GPT entry point closes there is no guarantee of reaching those old exchanges the same way. If a particular picture matters, saving it well before August 30 is the safe move.

What ChatGPT Images offers instead

ChatGPT Images is the place inside ChatGPT for creating new pictures and editing existing ones. A request can be made directly in a conversation, or started by choosing Images from the menu. It handles instructions such as adding text, filling in detail, or making a background transparent.

Editing works two ways. One is to paint over the region to change with the selection tool and then describe the change in chat; the other is to skip the tool and describe the edit in the conversation panel. Selections are not always precise, and edits can spill past the highlighted area. The editor also allows undoing and redoing selections, and regenerating the picture at a different aspect ratio. On mobile, tapping a generated image opens the same editing flow.

Availability is laid out clearly as well. ChatGPT Images 2.0 is offered on all tiers, while Images with thinking is available on Plus, Pro, and Business, with Enterprise and Edu to follow. It runs on web, iOS, and Android, and image generation and editing are also possible in Codex.

The DALL·E API had already gone dark

Viewed alone, this looks abrupt, but the developer side wrapped up months ago. The DALL·E 2 and DALL·E 3 models were removed from the API and shut off on May 12, 2026, following a notice issued on November 14, 2025 that gave roughly half a year of lead time.

So DALL·E left the API in May and leaves the ChatGPT interface in August. August 30 marks the point where the generation of models carrying that name fully steps back from image creation in ChatGPT.

What to do before the deadline

The checklist is short. Download the pictures made with DALL·E GPT that are worth keeping. Open an image from the Images screen and choose Save to pull it onto a device; sharing and copying are available from the same controls.

Next, shift day-to-day habits over to ChatGPT Images. Getting used to asking for pictures inside a normal conversation removes any friction after August 30. For anyone relying on a self-built GPT, no migration work is needed as long as image generation is enabled in its capability settings, since those GPTs can already use the newer generation model.

Summary

The official DALL·E GPT ends on August 30, and image creation in ChatGPT consolidates around ChatGPT Images. User-built GPTs are untouched, and editing and storage now live on the Images side. The one remaining task is moving pictures onto a device before the door closes. Coming after the API shutdown in May, this closes the chapter on the DALL·E name in ChatGPT.