The fervor around Google’s new image generation model, Nano Banana Pro, and OpenAI’s Sora video generator has reportedly forced both AI giants to implement new limits on how many AI-generated videos and images a user can make per day.
OpenAI has announced that free video generation on the Sora app will be limited to six videos per day. However, these limits do not apply to paid users of ChatGPT (Plus and Pro subscribers).
“We’re setting usage limits for free users to 6 gens/day. chatgpt plus and pro users have unchanged limits, and everybody can purchase additional gens as needed,” Bill Peebles, OpenAI’s head of Sora, posted on X. “Our gpus are melting, and we want to let as many people access sora as possible!” he added.
we’re setting usage limits for free users to 6 gens/day. chatgpt plus and pro users have unchanged limits, and everybody can purchase additional gens as needed. our gpus are melting, and we want to let as many people access sora as possible!
— Bill Peebles (@billpeeb) November 28, 2025
GPUs (graphics processing units) are computer chips that are widely used by AI companies to crunch data in order to develop and run large language models (LLMs). Earlier this year, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman had made a similar claim of ‘melting GPUs’ amid the viral AI Ghibli trend. While current-generation GPUs from companies like Nvidia can wear out and depreciate over time, they are not typically at risk of melting, especially in data centres with advanced cooling systems.
In a Bloomberg interview, Altman acknowledged that his post on ‘GPUs melting’ was more of a joke. “I didn’t realise people were going to take that literally…They were running really hot, but the metal was not actually melting,” he said.
On the other hand, Nano Banana Pro users who have not subscribed to Google’s AI subscription plans, are now limited to two images generated and edited per day using the Gemini 3 Pro Image-powered tool. New variable usage limits have also reportedly been placed on Gemini 3 Pro, with the support page for free access to Gemini 3 Pro Thinking reading “Basic access – daily limits may change frequently,” as per 9to5 Google.
However, the limit for the previous Nano Banana (powered by Gemini 2.5) is still 100 images per day.
The scale-back of how many image and video requests users can submit to OpenAI and Google’s AI content generation tools comes during a holiday weekend in the United States, where several users may have idle time to use these services to their limits. The rate-limiting also serves as a crucial reminder of how much compute and energy is required to generate images and videos inside ChatGPT or Gemini.
Expand
© IE Online Media Services Pvt Ltd
