OpenAI's 'Aurora' models resurface on Arena generating images, pointing to a new image model

Three OpenAI model references, aurora-red-alpha, aurora-green-alpha and aurora-blue-alpha, appeared briefly in OpenAI's API over the weekend. They were removed shortly afterward, which TestingCatalog describes as what looked like an accidental rollout. The new development is that all three have since appeared in blind tests on Arena, where they produce images. That suggests they are image-generation models, and TestingCatalog says OpenAI may be preparing GPT-Image-3. The outlet says it first spotted the names through an alert on the Dev Mode Discord server. A user named Lumina later pointed out the models' presence on Arena and shared sample cat portraits. TestingCatalog calls the outputs clean and detailed but says two images reveal little about quality and none of the samples stand out. 36Kr's English edition, citing the Chinese outlet 新智元, also describes the models as an image-generation foundation model and says reactions compare them to Google's Nano Banana. It notes earlier speculation that the names belonged to GPT-6.1 Astra. OpenAI has not announced or commented on the models. For now, the evidence is limited to leaked names and a handful of arena samples.