Testing DeepSeek Janus-Pro for Image Understanding and Generation

SUMMARY

In 30 seconds

In February 2025, Matthew Berman tests DeepSeek Janus-Pro-7B, which supports image understanding and text-to-image generation. He demonstrates a diagram-to-code task, a spreadsheet transcription, meme interpretation and two generated images, with one meme interpretation failing. Vultr partnered on the video and supplied the cloud-compute context; the results are examples rather than a controlled benchmark.

1Unified multimodal modelJanus-Pro-7B can interpret image inputs and generate images. It is not the first research system to combine these modalities.
2Benchmark scopeDeepSeek’s reported GenEval and DPG-Bench results compare specific models and settings, not every measure of visual quality.
3Sponsored cloud demonstrationVultr partnered on the video; Berman runs a Gradio interface on AMD MI300X cloud hardware.
4Vision tasksThe model generates Python from a flowchart and transcribes a spreadsheet, but misreads a workplace meme.
5Image generationBerman produces astronaut and wine-glass examples and considers them good but not exceptional.

Takeaways

Janus-Pro combines multimodal understanding and image generation in one model family; earlier research had already explored unified models.
DeepSeek reported higher GenEval scores than specific DALL-E 3 and Stable Diffusion 3 Medium versions, which does not prove superiority on every image task.
Berman’s diagram-to-code and spreadsheet examples appeared successful, while a second meme was misinterpreted.
The demonstration ran on a Vultr-hosted AMD Instinct MI300X, so its apparent speed does not establish local performance on every computer.
The Janus repository and model have separate license terms; review the model license before deployment or commercial use.
The cloud promotion and pricing described in the video were historical and subject to their original terms.

TopicsVision & video Generative media Multimodal AI Open-weight models AI cost & performance

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Janus-Pro and the cloud setup

Berman introduces the model and reviews DeepSeek’s reported image benchmarks. He discloses the Vultr partnership and uses an AMD cloud GPU.

DeepSeek has released Janus-Pro, a multimodal model that can both answer questions about images and generate images. I test the 7-billion-parameter version in February 2025. Its weights are available, but whether it runs conveniently on a particular local computer depends on memory, software and hardware.

SLIDE 1 / 3DeepSeek’s Janus-Pro benchmark chartThe report compares selected image understanding and generation benchmarks with specific prior models.

DeepSeek reports that Janus-Pro-7B scored 80% on GenEval, compared with 67% for DALL-E 3 and 74% for Stable Diffusion 3 Medium in its reported evaluation. That is a result on one benchmark under the paper’s conditions, not proof that Janus-Pro creates better images in every setting ([technical report](https://arxiv.org/abs/2501.17811)). Its authors also report a DPG-Bench result.

I am excited to see understanding and generation in a single model, but this was not the first research system to attempt both: prior unified systems included Chameleon and Emu3, as discussed in the [Janus paper](https://arxiv.org/abs/2410.13848). The [Janus repository](https://github.com/deepseek-ai/Janus) makes code available, while use of the model is subject to the separate DeepSeek model license; inspect the applicable terms.

Vultr is a partner on this video. I run Janus-Pro in a Gradio interface on a Vultr-hosted AMD Instinct MI300X and point out that the server can also expose an API. This is a cloud demonstration rather than a local-computer speed test, and it does not isolate how much the model or the hardware contributes to performance.

Testing image understanding

The model interprets memes, converts a flowchart to Python and transcribes a spreadsheet. One meme explanation fails.

First I upload a meme depicting competition between DeepSeek and OpenAI and ask for an explanation. The model recognizes the visual joke as a competitive interaction, though parts of its description are imperfect. There is no web search enabled in the setup I show.

Next I ask the model to convert a number-guessing flowchart into runnable Python. I paste and run its generated code, then make several guesses until it reports a win. That is a successful demonstration for this simple example, not proof that generated programs will always match arbitrary diagrams.

I then provide a spreadsheet screenshot and ask for CSV. The output looks correct to me on a visual inspection, but I do not show a cell-by-cell independent audit. On a second meme contrasting startups and large companies, the model misses the joke and describes the large-company side in terms of efficiency and coordination rather than the intended criticism.

Generating images

Berman generates two images in the same interface and discusses his impression. He closes with a historical Vultr promotion.

Without loading a different model in the displayed interface, I switch to image generation and request an astronaut in a jungle with muted colors, then a glass of red wine on a reflective surface. I find the pictures reasonably good rather than extraordinary. These two examples are subjective demonstrations, not a full image-quality evaluation.

SLIDE 3 / 3Generated wine-glass imageAn example produced by the model in the cloud demonstration.

I conclude that the small model is promising and again promote Vultr’s hosted AMD hardware. I mention a $300 promotional credit for the first 30 days; that offer was part of the 2025 partnership and its current availability and conditions should be checked with the provider.