Short answer
ChatGPT image generation may take a few minutes. OpenAI says the time depends on the complexity of your request, but does not give a fixed number of seconds or a guaranteed completion time for images created in ChatGPT. You can keep using ChatGPT while it works. (OpenAI Help Center)
That’s a better expectation than older online estimates that promise a particular number of seconds: those figures may refer to different models or test conditions, and shouldn’t be treated as a current guarantee.
Why might one image take longer than another?
OpenAI’s ChatGPT guidance points to request complexity as a factor in how long image generation may take. For API image generation, OpenAI says higher complexity can increase latency. It can also help with dense text, complex layouts, and relationships between objects, though it may introduce unwanted changes; compare results for your task. (OpenAI Help Center; OpenAI API image-generation guide)
Allow extra time for complex requests, but don’t assume every precise edit takes longer. OpenAI doesn’t publish a per-prompt timing formula, so there’s no dependable way to calculate an exact wait from prompt length or detail alone.
Does ChatGPT’s wait time predict production API speed?
No—not from the published timing information. The ChatGPT guidance says image creation may take a few minutes. That is not a published API latency benchmark, and it does not establish that a matching request through the API will take the same amount of time.
OpenAI says Images 2.6 generates images 50% faster than before. It also says its API’s GPT-Image-2.6 Flare model can generate an image in as little as six seconds when quality is set to low. That is a specific capability—not a typical-time promise for every image, setting, or production request. (OpenAI: Introducing Images 2.6)
For a production decision: test the model, quality, image size, and request path you actually plan to use. Time each request from submission until your application has a usable image, and repeat the test across representative prompts. That gives you workflow-specific planning data; a ChatGPT UI estimate or a single fast API result does not.
Bottom line
For an image made in ChatGPT, image generation may take a few minutes. Treat that as an expectation, not a maximum wait or guaranteed completion time. For production API work, benchmark your intended setup separately. The advertised six-second result applies to API Flare at low quality, not to image generation in ChatGPT generally. (OpenAI Help Center; OpenAI: Introducing Images 2.6)
Sources
Images in ChatGPT — OpenAI Help Center