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AI models generate quirky images and access GPT-5.5 via Codex backdoor

By PulseAugur Editorial · [4 sources] ·

Simon Willison's blog posts highlight a humorous interaction with ChatGPT Images 2.0, which independently added a "WHY ARE YOU LIKE THIS" sign to an image of a horse riding an astronaut on a pelican riding a bicycle. This incident is discussed alongside news of DeepSeek V4's near-frontier performance at a lower cost and a method for accessing GPT-5.5 via a semi-official Codex backdoor API. The posts also touch upon a new tool for extracting PDF text in browsers and Willison's own newsletter content, which includes whimsical imagery and a guide on agentic engineering patterns. AI

IMPACT Highlights advancements in image generation and access to frontier models, while also noting competitive pricing for high-performance models.

RANK_REASON The cluster discusses a new model release (DeepSeek V4) and a method for accessing a frontier model (GPT-5.5), alongside a novel use case for an image generation model.

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AI-generated summary · Google Gemini · from 4 sources. How we write summaries →

AI models generate quirky images and access GPT-5.5 via Codex backdoor

How we ranked this

Signal score
0 / 100
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Newsworthiness bucket
Research
The cluster discusses a new model release (DeepSeek V4) and a method for accessing a frontier model (GPT-5.5), alongside a novel use case for an image generation model.
Source corroboration
4 independent sources
Strong cross-source corroboration — multiple independent publishers covered this within the clustering window.
Topics
model release, product, paper
Editorial topic classification. Feeds into how the story surfaces on /topic/<slug> hub pages and into the per-entity coverage mix.
AI-industry relevance
High
Clearly on-topic for AI-industry coverage.
Story freshness
145 days old
Aged out of breaking-news scoring windows; ranking reflects the durable signal from the full source set.
Coverage growth since scoring
+1 source(s) since last score
New sources have picked up this story since our last re-score. Score will update on the next scoring pass.

Full methodology in our editorial standards.

COVERAGE [4]

  1. Simon Willison TIER_1 English(EN) ·

    WHY ARE YOU LIKE THIS

    <p>@scottjla <a href="https://twitter.com/scottjla/status/2047535371664457863">on Twitter</a> in reply to my <a href="https://simonwillison.net/tags/pelican-riding-a-bicycle/">pelican riding a bicycle</a> benchmark:</p> <blockquote> <p>I feel like we need to stack these tests now…

  2. Simon Willison TIER_1 English(EN) ·

    It's a big one

    <p><a href="https://simonw.substack.com/p/gpt-55-chatgpt-images-20-qwen36-27b">This week's edition</a> of my email newsletter (aka <a href="https://simonwillison.net/2023/Apr/4/substack-observable/">content from this blog</a> delivered to your inbox) features 4 pelicans riding bi…

  3. Simon Willison TIER_1 English(EN) ·

    llm-openai-via-codex 0.1a0

    <p><strong>Release:</strong> <a href="https://github.com/simonw/llm-openai-via-codex/releases/tag/0.1a0">llm-openai-via-codex 0.1a0</a></p> <p>Hijacks your Codex CLI credentials to make API calls with LLM, as described <a href="https://simonwillison.net/2026/Apr/23/gpt-5-5/#llm-o…

  4. Simon Willison TIER_1 English(EN) ·

    Quoting Maggie Appleton

    <blockquote cite="https://maggieappleton.com/gathering-structures"><p>[...] if you ever needed another reason to <a href="https://www.swyx.io/learn-in-public">learn in public</a> by <a href="https://maggieappleton.com/garden-history">digital gardening</a> or podcasting or streami…

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