OpenAI opens up AI text-to-image generation to businesses with launch of DALL-E API

An image showing Johannes Vermeer’s painting “Girl with a Pearl Earring,” which has been extended beyond its regular borders with the help of OpenAI’s DALL-E tool.

An example of DALL-E’s “outpainting” function, which generates imagery outside an initial starting frame. | Image: OpenAI

OpenAI is making its image generation software DALL-E much more widely available to businesses with the launch of an API in public beta. The API will make it easier for companies to add DALL-E’s text-to-image functionality to their products, giving developers simplified tools to integrate and customize the software to their liking.

An early use case for the API is Microsoft’s Designer app, which uses the software to generate imagery for Office users, from PowerPoint slides to illustrations for homework. Microsoft is one of OpenAI’s major investors and unveiled the app last month.

Luke Miller, a product manager at OpenAI working on the API, told The Verge that the company was excited to see the new applications developers would find for...