Exploring the Deep Fusion of Large Language Models and Diffusion Transformers for Text-to-Image Synthesis
On the map: Diffusion models → Image generation, text-to-image and editing
Abstract (arXiv)
This paper does not describe a new method; instead, it provides a thorough exploration of an important yet understudied design space related to recent advances in text-to-image synthesis -- specifically, the deep fusion of large language models (LLMs) and diffusion transformers (DiTs) for multi-modal generation. Previous studies mainly focused on overall system performance rather than detailed comparisons with alternative methods, and key design details and training recipes were often left undisclosed. These gaps create uncertainty about the real potential of this approach. To fill these gaps, we conduct an empirical study on text-to-image generation, performing controlled comparisons with established baselines, analyzing important design choices, and providing a clear, reproducible recipe for training at scale. We hope this work offers meaningful data points and practical guidelines for future research in multi-modal generation.
Key facts. Cited by 15 papers in the map (data through 7 Oct 2026). Placed in Image generation, text-to-image and editing, one of 14 directions in Diffusion models. Builds on 44 of its 52 references that are in the map. First posted on arXiv 15 May 2025.
Builds on
44 of 52 references.
Closest ancestors · 11
Same direction, newest first
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- 2024ELLA: Equip Diffusion Models with LLM for Enhanced Semantic Alignment8 Mar
- 2024Playground v2.5: Three Insights towards Enhancing Aesthetic Quality in Text-to-Image Generation27 Feb
- 2024Mastering Text-to-Image Diffusion: Recaptioning, Planning, and Generating with Multimodal LLMs22 Jan
- 2023Self-correcting LLM-controlled Diffusion Models27 Nov
- 2023GenEval: An Object-Focused Framework for Evaluating Text-to-Image Alignment17 Oct
- 2023LLM-grounded Diffusion: Enhancing Prompt Understanding of Text-to-Image Diffusion Models with Large Language Models23 May
- 2022Hierarchical Text-Conditional Image Generation with CLIP Latents13 Apr
Other references · 33
- 2017Attention Is All You Needcited by 59,932
- 2021Learning Transferable Visual Models From Natural Language Supervisioncited by 33,456
- 2020An Image is Worth 16x16 Words: Transformers for Image Recognition at Scalecited by 29,915
- 2015U-Net: Convolutional Networks for Biomedical Image Segmentationcited by 19,604
- 2021High-Resolution Image Synthesis with Latent Diffusion Modelscited by 18,694
- 2019Exploring the Limits of Transfer Learning with a Unified Text-to-Text Transformercited by 14,491
- 2024The Llama 3 Herd of Modelscited by 14,192
- 2023Segment Anythingcited by 8,158
- 2022Scalable Diffusion Models with Transformerscited by 5,931
- 2021RoFormer: Enhanced Transformer with Rotary Position Embeddingcited by 4,581
- 2022Flamingo: a Visual Language Model for Few-Shot Learningcited by 4,337
- 2023SDXL: Improving Latent Diffusion Models for High-Resolution Image Synthesiscited by 4,290
21 more
- 2024Scaling Rectified Flow Transformers for High-Resolution Image Synthesiscited by 4,094
- 2022Flow Straight and Fast: Learning to Generate and Transfer Data with Rectified Flowcited by 3,550
- 2024Gemma 2: Improving Open Language Models at a Practical Sizecited by 1,928
- 2021Conceptual 12M: Pushing Web-Scale Image-Text Pre-Training To Recognize Long-Tail Visual Conceptscited by 1,209
- 2024Gemma: Open Models Based on Gemini Research and Technologycited by 889
- 2023PixArt-α: Fast Training of Diffusion Transformer for Photorealistic Text-to-Image Synthesiscited by 854
- 2024PaliGemma: A versatile 3B VLM for transfercited by 679
- 2024SANA: Efficient High-Resolution Image Synthesis with Linear Diffusion Transformerscited by 331
- 2024PixArt-Sigma: Weak-to-Strong Training of Diffusion Transformer for 4K Text-to-Image Generationcited by 326
- 2023DreamLLM: Synergistic Multimodal Comprehension and Creationcited by 296
- 2025Layer by Layer: Uncovering Hidden Representations in Language Modelscited by 293
- 2023JourneyDB: A Benchmark for Generative Image Understandingcited by 203
- 2025SANA 1.5: Efficient Scaling of Training-Time and Inference-Time Compute in Linear Diffusion Transformercited by 165
- 2024Mixture-of-Transformers: A Sparse and Scalable Architecture for Multi-Modal Foundation Modelscited by 151
- 2024Lumina-T2X: Transforming Text into Any Modality, Resolution, and Duration via Flow-based Large Diffusion Transformerscited by 137
- 2024Lumina-Next: Making Lumina-T2X Stronger and Faster with Next-DiTcited by 130
- 2024LMFusion: Adapting Pretrained Language Models for Multimodal Generationcited by 120
- 2024Playground v3: Improving Text-to-Image Alignment with Deep-Fusion Large Language Modelscited by 113
- 2023Kosmos-G: Generating Images in Context with Multimodal Large Language Modelscited by 105
- 2025Is Noise Conditioning Necessary for Denoising Generative Models?cited by 42
- 2024Stretching Each Dollar: Diffusion Training from Scratch on a Micro-Budgetcited by 30
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Citing papers per year: 2025: 8; 2026: 7.
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- 2025GRAN-TED: Generating Robust, Aligned, and Nuanced Text Embedding for Diffusion Models17 Dec 2025
- 2025Phase-Aligned RoPE for Mixed-Resolution Diffusion Transformer24 Nov 2025
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- 2025Uniform Discrete Diffusion with Metric Path for Video Generation28 Oct 2025
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- 2025Scone: Bridging Composition and Distinction in Subject-Driven Image Generation via Unified Understanding-Generation Modeling14 Dec 2025
- 2025Generating an Image From 1,000 Words: Enhancing Text-to-Image With Structured Captions10 Nov 2025
- 2025LightFusion: A Light-weighted, Double Fusion Framework for Unified Multimodal Understanding and Generation27 Oct 2025
- 2025Scaling Sequence-to-Sequence Generative Neural Rendering5 Oct 2025
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