Microsoft Cancels Dall-E Upgrade Due To Image Quality Issues

Microsoft recently decided to revert its most recent update to the Bing Image Generation feature, which had implemented the new OpenAI Dall-E model known as PR16. This decision came after numerous users voiced their dissatisfaction with a perceived drop in image quality.

Since launching Bing Image Creator last spring, users have produced billions of images using text prompts. I’m excited to announce our latest updates aimed at enhancing your creative experience. Starting today, we’re introducing the DALL-E 3 model PR16, which is designed to generate images… pic.twitter.com/3p9HsYMlr6

— Jordi Ribas (@JordiRib1) December 18, 2024

At the announcement of the new model, Microsoft claimed that it was now “twice as fast and with improved quality.” However, Jordi Ribas, head of Search, mentioned that internal tests indicated that images generated by PR16 were “somewhat better on average” than those produced by the previous Dall-E PR13. Many users, however, felt differently. One user on the Bing subreddit expressed disappointment, stating, “The DALLE we loved is gone forever,” suggesting that the differences in image quality were significant enough to warrant this frustration.

In light of the negative feedback, Ribas announced that the company plans to revert the underlying image generation model back to the earlier version until the quality issues with PR16 can be resolved. He noted that this process could take several weeks.

“We’ve been able to replicate some of the issues reported and will switch back to PR13 until we can address them,” Ribas shared in a recent post on X. “Unfortunately, the deployment process is quite slow. It began over a week ago and is expected to take another 2-3 weeks to reach full capacity.”

Microsoft and OpenAI aren’t the only ones facing challenges with image generation. In February 2024, Google also had to temporarily take down its Gemini image model after it began to display racially insensitive representations of individuals, including offensive stereotypes.