Janus Pro Outperforms DALL-E 3 The Next Big Leap in Generative AI

DeepSeek’s Breakthrough with Janus Pro Models

Chinese AI research lab DeepSeek has unveiled its latest multimodal AI model family, Janus Pro, claiming it outperforms OpenAI’s DALL-E 3 in key benchmarks. These generative models, ranging from 1 billion to 7 billion parameters, are now available for download on the AI development platform Hugging Face under the permissive MIT license, allowing unrestricted commercial use.

The Janus Pro models are designed as a "new autoregressive system" that excels at both analyzing and generating images. DeepSeek’s largest model, Janus Pro 7B, has achieved top scores on two AI evaluation tests, GenEval and DPG-Bench, surpassing not only DALL-E 3 but also other notable models like PixArt-alpha, Emu3-Gen, and Stable Diffusion XL.

Despite a limitation in image resolution (384 x 384 pixels), Janus Pro’s efficiency and compact design have garnered widespread attention. DeepSeek emphasized that the model’s simplicity, flexibility, and high performance make it a strong contender in the next generation of unified multimodal systems. The company notes that Janus Pro matches or even outperforms task-specific models, a remarkable feat for a unified AI system.

DeepSeek’s progress has sparked a wave of interest in its methods, which focus on computationally efficient training techniques. This has led analysts to question whether the U.S. can maintain its edge in the AI race, given the rapid advancements by Chinese AI labs like DeepSeek.

Registration Woes: DeepSeek Faces Growing Pains

As interest in DeepSeek’s technology surged, the company’s AI assistant app climbed to the top of the Apple App Store charts, but the influx of users created significant challenges. DeepSeek was forced to temporarily limit new user registrations, citing large-scale malicious attacks on its systems. Existing users were unaffected, but new sign-ups faced repeated barriers.

Initially, registration required a Chinese phone number, creating further complications for international users. However, DeepSeek later removed this restriction, allowing users to register via Google or Apple ID. Email registration was also listed as an option, with some journalists confirming successful account creation using these alternative methods.

While the company has since resolved the reported technical issues, it remains unclear whether the registration limits were solely due to attacks or a result of overwhelming demand. Regardless, DeepSeek’s rapid rise has highlighted both the potential and the challenges of scaling cutting-edge AI technology to a global audience.