New mystery AI image generator bests Midjourney and DALL-E 3 - how to try it

Even though many AI image generators are vying for your attention today, they each have different strengths and, as a result, different use cases. However, all AI can be judged on certain metrics -- such as the overall quality of the rendition -- and that's what Artificial Analysis's Text-to-Image Arena tests are for.   

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In the Arena, users are shown two images rendered from the same prompt without labeling which model is responsible for each. Then, users can pick which they prefer based on overall quality and factors such as lack of artifacts and prompt fidelity. The results are compiled into a leaderboard with a new mystery model, Red Panda, at the top of the charts. 

The new model beats out many industry leaders featured in the Arena, including DALLE 3, Stable Diffusion 3 Large, Midjourney v6, and FLUX.1 [pro]. The origins of Red Panda are unknown, but it is likely a new model that the company behind it is testing in the Arena to gauge performance before launching to the public, a common industry practice. 

Red Panda has a 72% Arena Win Rate and an Arena Elo score of 1172, which puts it 40 points ahead of its runner-up, FLUX 1.1 [pro] by Black Forest Labs, the model behind the Grok image generator found on X. To experience the Red Panda hype for yourself, visit the Text-to-Image Arena and run through the selection process. 

When you enter the Arena, all you have to do is select which photo matches the prompt better; once you do, you will see which models were used and which you voted for. However, there is no guarantee how soon you will be presented with Red Panda; you may have to go through several rounds until it comes up. 

It came up several times within my first 30 rounds, which sounds like a lot, but it takes only seconds to go through each pick. Then, you can view your voting results by visiting your personal leaderboard; you can view mine below. 

The results of my 60 rounds confirmed Red Panda is an extremely capable model. It won four times, tying with Midjourney --which ZDNET crowned the best AI image generator for high-quality photos -- and FLUX.1. 

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Stay tuned for ZDNET coverage when more information about the model is released. Until then, there are plenty of other AI image generators you can test out, and ZDNET rounded up the best ones for you here.