OpenAI testing new "Aurora" GPT-Image model on Arena

If fresh leaks and tests are anything to go by, then it looks like OpenAI might be getting GPT-Image-3 ready. Three new model references, aurora-red-alpha, aurora-green-alpha, and aurora-blue-alpha, briefly appeared in OpenAI's API this weekend, and within hours they were turning up in blind arena tests producing images.

We caught the names through an alert on the Dev Mode Discord server. The references were pulled shortly after, which looked like an accidental rollout.

Lumina soon highlighted that all three models appear to be image models currently tested on Arena. They even shared a second cat from aurora-green-alpha. Of course, two cat portraits won't tell anyone much about quality, but both look clean and detailed. Still, based on the images we've seen so far, none of them look like they'd make you write home about.

Lumina Bench did speculate that this is probably GPT Image 3, and we'd lean the same way, though that's still a guess. In those tests, red ran faster but with lower quality, while green was slower and looked better. The blue model hasn't been tested yet.

Separately, X user Intius also noticed three new entries on Design Arena, named Aspen, Cypress, and Maple, about an hour after the API references appeared, though nothing ties those names to the Aurora models directly.

OpenAI testing multiple models isn't exactly a surprise. The company did ship ChatGPT Images 2.5 with two API models, GPT-Image-2.5 Flare for speed and GPT-Image-2.5 Sunburst for precision, and it has since been put to work on virtual try-ons in ChatGPT shopping. If you look back further, then we can see that OpenAI ran three tape-themed Image V2 variants through LM Arena the same way back in April.

While image generation models are fun to play with, a lot of users are actually waiting for a new frontier model. OpenAI, for its part, recently launched GPT-6 with Intelligent UI in ChatGPT. Before that, we got the company's Grok Bot and Muse alternative dubbed Dots, which is currently powered by GPT-6 Astra and GPT-6.1 Sol.

But that's not all. OpenAI also listed gpt-rosalind-discovery on its pricing page last week. That model still hasn't been announced, although Rosalind Workbench opened in research preview a day later.

Meanwhile, Anthropic is preparing to launch Claude Fable 5.5, which partners reportedly already have, and Cursor's latest build has started referencing the name. Whether OpenAI answers with GPT-Image-3 or something bigger, the next couple of weeks look busy. There's no documentation or pricing for any of the Aurora models yet, so the cat pics are all we have.