Google Bard Now Includes AI Image Generation through Imagen 2

Google released today a new AI image generation function within Google Bard, its AI chatbot that competes directly with OpenAI’s ChatGPT, confirming the leaked information from two weeks ago. 

Adding a Google Image 2-powered AI image generator to Bard catches up with ChatGPT Plus, the premium service of that AI virtual assistant, which has had such a feature for months now. It also marks the first release of Imagen 2 to the public, as it was previously locked within the SGE platform for select users only. Remarkably, The Bard AI image generator is free of charge. 

As Early Reported, Google Imagen Has Landed on Bard

Around two weeks ago, at AISecrets, we reported a leak from an X (formerly Twitter) user that assured Google was planning to integrate their recently-released Google Imagen 2 generative image model into their chatbot Bard to make it competitive against ChatGPT Plus and Microsoft Copilot, among others, which already had that feature. 

This is now a reality, as Google Bard debuted AI image generation from text prompts. Despite Bard itself being fueled by Google Gemini –the company’s largest large language model– which was expected to become a fully multimodal AI including text-to-image synthesis, this feature comes indeed from integrating the Imagen 2, improved image generation model, just like early reports pointed. 

As of now, users from most regions of the world –except for the European Economic Area (EEA), Switzerland, and the UK– can generate images on Bard by simply describing what they want to see in the chatbot's chat bubble. For the time being, it only supports English language prompts.

Google Imagen 2 is Now Open to the Public and Free

The most remarkable part of this not-so-news news is that it constitutes the first release of Google’s AI image generator to the public. Until now, this text-to-image generating tool was only available to selected users of the firm’s Search Generative Experience (SGE). By integrating it into the more publicly accessible Bard, they’re opening it to all Internauts. 

The other important highlight is that they’re making it available for free. Unlike OpenAI, which reserves this feature to paid ChatGPT Plus premium service users, Bard’s AI Image Generation is free for all. 

With the potential massive access to Imagen 2, there may come a time when the tool proves whether it’s as safe, content-generation-wise, as its creators claim. Google has stated they tested the model extensively and that several guardrails and filters, as well as their native SynthID invisible watermark system, are implemented into it to prevent generating harmful or questionable content and replicating the likeness of celebrities and other public figures. 

Have you tried AI image generation in Google Bard yet? What do you think?

THE AUTHOR

Ivanna Attie

All About Ivanna

I am an experienced author with expertise in digital communication, stock media, design, and creative tools. I have closely followed and reported on AI developments in this field since its early days. I have gained valuable industry insight through my work with leading digital media professionals since 2014.

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