OpenAI’s upgraded o3 model can use images when reasoning

OpenAI is releasing two new AI reasoning models today: o3, which the company calls its “most powerful reasoning model,” and o4-mini, which is a smaller and faster model that “achieves remarkable performance for its size and cost,” according to a blog post.

The company also says that o3 and o4-mini will be able to “think” with images, meaning they will “integrate images directly into their chain of thought.” That could be useful if you show the models things like sketches or whiteboards. OpenAI says that the models will also be able to adjust images by zooming in on them or rotating the image “as part of their reasoning process.”

Introducing OpenAI o3 and o4-mini—our smartest and most capable models to date.

For the first time, our reasoning models can agentically use and combine every tool within ChatGPT, including web search, Python, image analysis, file interpretation, and image generation. pic.twitter.com/rDaqV0x0wE

— OpenAI (@OpenAI) April 16, 2025

In addition, OpenAI is announcing that its reasoning models will be able to use all ChatGPT tools, including things like web browsing and image generation. The tools will be available today for ChatGPT Plus, Pro, and Team users in o3, o4-mini, and o4-mini-high, and will come to o3-pro in “a few weeks.” (o1, o3-mini, and o3-mini-high will be phased out from those tiers.)

Today’s announcements follow OpenAI’s reveal of its flagship GPT-4.1 AI model on Monday, its successor to GPT-4o.

Update, April 16th: Added an X post from OpenAI.