OpenAI's GPT-Image 2.5 variants, particularly Sunburst and Flare, lead image-edit leaderboards with top Elo scores around 1520 as of mid-October 2026, driven by the September 8 release that delivered sharper subject preservation, more reliable multi-turn edits, and up to 50% faster generation while better maintaining unedited areas. This positions OpenAI far ahead in trader consensus. Google's early October Nano Banana 2.1 update boosted mask-based editing and consistency but remains several points behind in aggregated benchmarks. Other labs including Microsoft, xAI, and Black Forest Labs trail further on current evaluations, with no major releases expected before end-of-month resolution to shift the gap.