While there's a market need for fast diffusion, that's already been filled and is now a race to the bottom. There's nobody else that can do what OpenAI does with gpt-image-1. This model is a truly programmable graphics workflow engine. And this type of model has so much more value than mere "image generation".
gpt-image-1 replaces ComfyUI, inpainting/outpainting, LoRAs, and in time one could imagine it replaces Adobe Photoshop and nearly all the things people use it for. It's an image manipulation engine, not just a diffusion model. It understands what you want on the first try, and it does a remarkably good job at it.
gpt-image-1 is a graphics design department in a box.
Please don't think of this as a model where you prompt things like "a dog and a cat hugging". This is so much more than that.