DALL-E API Released by OpenAI in Public Beta, Potential Boon for App Builders

Get ready, developers: today OpenAI released the long-awaited one DALL-E API in public betameaning developers can now integrate DALL-E directly into their apps and products.

With the announcement, DALL-E, a transformer language model that allows users to use natural language prompts to create and edit original images, joins GPT-3, Embeddings and Codex in Open AI’s API platform.

Companies such as Cala, a fashion design platform, and Mixtiles, which prints photos on lightweight decorative tiles online, have already implemented and tested the API for their specific use cases.

Meanwhile, Microsoft is bringing DALL-E to its new graphic design app Designer — and also integrating DALL-E into Bing and Microsoft Edge with Image Creator, allowing users to create images if the web results aren’t what they’re looking for. Stock photo supplier Shutterstock also announced last week that it would use the API to offer DALL-E generated images to customers.

OpenAI keeps repeating DALL-E API

The API will be available for anyone to use on the OpenAI platform, Luke Miller, product manager at OpenAI, told VentureBeat.

With the API in beta, “we will continue to iterate and improve until the end of the year,” he said. “We’re really excited about all the ways developers can use and adapt this technology for specific needs, specific applications, and specific communities, to scale beyond what we ever could.”

Miller added that the company has taken many of the lessons learned in recent months from deploying the DALL-E beta to millions of users and built them into the API, “so we feel comfortable doing this.” to share with the world, but also to allow developers to focus on the fun things of building.”

DALL-E’s Fast Journey to Cultural Touchstone

The DALL-E API is yet another big step for the text-to-image generator, which has become part of the mainstream pop culture zeitgeist since DALL-E 2 was released just six months ago – including millions of views of art generated by DALL -E on social media, a segment about DALL-E on The Today Show, and a recent appearance by CTO Mira Murati on The daily show.

At the same time, there has been much outrage and fierce debate over issues, including the prospect of legal wrangling over the copyright of DALL-E images; how DALL-E can reflect prejudice in his training data; and to ask about the accuracy and competence of DALL-E.

But Open AI claims that 3 million people are already using DALL-E to boost creativity and speed up workflows, generating more than 4 million images per day. Developers, they said, can now start building with DALL-E in minutes.

From side projects to startups

That includes making it as easy as possible to get started by signing up, getting an API key, and starting building, he explained.

“Whether that’s someone just hacking into a fun side project on the weekend, whether it’s an early-stage startup, an artist working on a creative project, or a major enterprise, all those people can come in and this using technology in an integrated manner. in their product,” he said, echoing what many predict — that the DALL-E API debut will open the floodgates of generative AI startups.

“The fun hacking-side project will eventually turn into a startup in some cases,” he said. “Ultimately, if you’re excited to build with this technology, we want you to be able to do it and build it into your product.”

Rowan Curran, AI and ML analyst at Forrester Research, believes that if the DALL-E API enables image editing and refinement, it will be “hugely useful” for developers.

“Then you can embed it as a full application in any business use case you want,” he told VentureBeat.

API price is per image

The DALL-E API is priced per image output, based on size. 1024 x 1024 costs $0.02/image, while there are very small discounts for 512 x 512 for $0.018/image and 256 x 256 for $0.016/image.

The API has three options, Miller explains. Users can generate an image, edit part of the image and also generate multiple variations of the image.

“You can think of it as just the creative process, coming up with ideas, choosing something and narrowing it down and then continuing to iterate and find something that fits your need and the given context,” he said.

Historically, Curran pointed out that one of the limiting factors around large language models in general is the cost involved. So if the price is right for the DALL-E API, he said it would “open up a whole host of use cases, especially for startups and people getting seed funding.”

That said, he added that large enterprises, especially innovation teams, will likely want to use the DALL-E API as well.

“In addition, I expect this will drive more research and usage at the enterprise level and in terms of adopting and refining their own major language models for different usage scenarios,” he said. “Because I think the ability to take the big language models and add this fine-tuning layer on top for some of these really specific industries is going to be really groundbreaking.”

Questions about trust and security

Critics continue to question the trust and security of generative AI in general, and DALL-E in particular, that fake photos can be used, for example, to bully and harass, or to spread misinformation and foment violence. In May, researchers said the tool could also reinforce stereotypes against women and people of color.

Those with ethical and legal questions about DALL-E may not be happy to hear that images generated with the API do not require a watermark – which was implemented during the DALL-E 2 beta but is optional with the API.

But in a press release, OpenAI claimed that the DALL-E API “captures the trust and security lessons we learned while deploying DALL-E to 3 million artists and users worldwide.”

The API will allow “developers to ship with confidence knowing that built-in throttling — such as hate symbols and gore filters — can handle the challenging aspects of moderation,” the press release continued. “As part of OpenAI’s commitment to responsible implementation, we will continue to make trust and security a top priority so developers can focus on building.”

Mixtiles uses DALL-E API to create reminders

Tel Aviv-based Mixtiles co-founder Eytan Levit says the company immediately saw the potential of DALL-E 2 and signed up for early access.

“We started playing DALL-E 2 to create framed photos of childhood memories, spirit animals and dreams that our relatives and friends described to us,” he told VentureBeat. “We wanted to see if they would hang these pictures on their walls, and they did.”

Levit pointed out that there is a learning curve for the first-time DALL-E user. “For example, you need to know which styles to use, such as an oil painting, digital art, pencil sketch or watercolor,” he said. “We’ve learned that referring to the time of day has a significant impact on your results, while color palettes also help you take great photos.”

Using the API, Mixtiles’ approach has been to take the user through a series of steps, with each step bringing them closer to creating works of art that they resonate emotionally with.

“We think simplicity is the key to unlocking this amazing technology for hundreds of millions of people who could use it to decorate their homes,” Levit said.

Ultimately, he added, Mixtiles is betting generative AI and DALL-E represent a new technological leap, “equivalent to the invention of paper, the picture frame, canvas print or the invention of computer graphics — we think it will spark an explosion of new ones.” use cases, of human creativity and of emotional connection.”

For Mixtiles, this means customers can upload family photos and portraits and then customize those images.

“Imagine turning a photo of your child into their favorite superhero, or turning your family portrait into a portrait of Simpsons-esque characters, or a Van Gogh-style painting,” Levit said. “we are optimistic that generative AI will become an integral part of our value proposition in the near future.”