diff --git a/metagpt/provider/openai_api.py b/metagpt/provider/openai_api.py
index 2ec78317a..8f9d91d6c 100644
--- a/metagpt/provider/openai_api.py
+++ b/metagpt/provider/openai_api.py
@@ -28,6 +28,7 @@ from metagpt.provider.base_llm import BaseLLM
 from metagpt.provider.constant import GENERAL_FUNCTION_SCHEMA, GENERAL_TOOL_CHOICE
 from metagpt.provider.llm_provider_registry import register_provider
 from metagpt.schema import Message
+from metagpt.utils.common import decode_image
 from metagpt.utils.cost_manager import CostManager, Costs
 from metagpt.utils.exceptions import handle_exception
 from metagpt.utils.token_counter import (
@@ -243,3 +244,27 @@ class OpenAILLM(BaseLLM):
     async def aspeech_to_text(self, **kwargs):
         """speech to text"""
         return await self.aclient.audio.transcriptions.create(**kwargs)
+
+    async def gen_image(
+        self,
+        prompt: str,
+        size: str = "1024x1024",
+        quality: str = "standard",
+        model: str = None,
+        resp_format: str = "url",
+    ) -> list["Image"]:
+        """image generate"""
+        assert resp_format in ["url", "b64_json"]
+        if not model:
+            model = self.model
+        res = await self.aclient.images.generate(
+            model=model, prompt=prompt, size=size, quality=quality, n=1, response_format=resp_format
+        )
+        imgs = []
+        for item in res.data:
+            if resp_format == "url":
+                img_url_or_b64 = item.url
+            else:
+                img_url_or_b64 = item.b64_json
+            imgs.append(decode_image(img_url_or_b64))
+        return imgs
diff --git a/metagpt/utils/common.py b/metagpt/utils/common.py
index 73017cf77..93921e983 100644
--- a/metagpt/utils/common.py
+++ b/metagpt/utils/common.py
@@ -24,11 +24,14 @@ import re
 import sys
 import traceback
 import typing
+from io import BytesIO
 from pathlib import Path
 from typing import Any, List, Tuple, Union
 
 import aiofiles
 import loguru
+import requests
+from PIL import Image
 from pydantic_core import to_jsonable_python
 from tenacity import RetryCallState, RetryError, _utils
 
@@ -600,6 +603,29 @@ def list_files(root: str | Path) -> List[Path]:
     return files
 
 
-def encode_image(image_path: Path, encoding: str = "utf-8") -> str:
-    with open(str(image_path), "rb") as image_file:
-        return base64.b64encode(image_file.read()).decode(encoding)
+def encode_image(image_path_or_pil: Union[Path, Image], encoding: str = "utf-8") -> str:
+    """encode image from file or PIL.Image into base64"""
+    if isinstance(image_path_or_pil, Image):
+        buffer = BytesIO()
+        image_path_or_pil.save(buffer, format="JPEG")
+        bytes_data = buffer.getvalue()
+    else:
+        if not image_path_or_pil.exists():
+            raise FileNotFoundError(f"{image_path_or_pil} not exists")
+        with open(str(image_path_or_pil), "rb") as image_file:
+            bytes_data = image_file.read()
+    return base64.b64encode(bytes_data).decode(encoding)
+
+
+def decode_image(img_url_or_b64: str) -> Image:
+    """decode image from url or base64 into PIL.Image"""
+    if img_url_or_b64.startswith("http"):
+        # image http(s) url
+        resp = requests.get(img_url_or_b64)
+        img = Image.open(BytesIO(resp.content))
+    else:
+        # image b64_json
+        b64_data = re.sub("^data:image/.+;base64,", "", img_url_or_b64)
+        img_data = BytesIO(base64.b64decode(b64_data))
+        img = Image.open(img_data)
+    return img
diff --git a/requirements.txt b/requirements.txt
index d54a1d22e..93091d137 100644
--- a/requirements.txt
+++ b/requirements.txt
@@ -59,3 +59,4 @@ networkx~=3.2.1
 google-generativeai==0.3.2
 # playwright==1.40.0  # playwright extras require
 anytree
+Pillow
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/tests/metagpt/provider/test_openai.py b/tests/metagpt/provider/test_openai.py
index bc7f92f33..82ab091c5 100644
--- a/tests/metagpt/provider/test_openai.py
+++ b/tests/metagpt/provider/test_openai.py
@@ -1,4 +1,5 @@
 import pytest
+from PIL import Image
 
 from metagpt.const import TEST_DATA_PATH
 from metagpt.llm import LLM
@@ -62,6 +63,18 @@ async def test_speech_to_text():
     assert "你好" == resp.text
 
 
+@pytest.mark.asyncio
+async def test_gen_image():
+    llm = LLM()
+    model = "dall-e-3"
+    prompt = 'a logo with word "MetaGPT"'
+    images: list[Image] = await llm.gen_image(model=model, prompt=prompt)
+    assert images[0].size == (1024, 1024)
+
+    images: list[Image] = await llm.gen_image(model=model, prompt=prompt, resp_format="b64_json")
+    assert images[0].size == (1024, 1024)
+
+
 class TestOpenAI:
     def test_make_client_kwargs_without_proxy(self):
         instance = OpenAILLM(mock_llm_config)