mlsanityData to 7 Oct 2026

Exploring the Deep Fusion of Large Language Models and Diffusion Transformers for Text-to-Image Synthesis

arXiv 2505.10046 ↗First posted 15 May 2025cs.CVcited by 15

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

  1. 2024JanusFlow: Harmonizing Autoregression and Rectified Flow for Unified Multimodal Understanding and Generation12 Nov
  2. 2024OmniGen: Unified Image Generation17 Sep
  3. 2024LLM4GEN: Leveraging Semantic Representation of LLMs for Text-to-Image Generation30 Jun
  4. 2024Exploring the Role of Large Language Models in Prompt Encoding for Diffusion Models17 Jun
  5. 2024ELLA: Equip Diffusion Models with LLM for Enhanced Semantic Alignment8 Mar
  6. 2024Playground v2.5: Three Insights towards Enhancing Aesthetic Quality in Text-to-Image Generation27 Feb
  7. 2024Mastering Text-to-Image Diffusion: Recaptioning, Planning, and Generating with Multimodal LLMs22 Jan
  8. 2023Self-correcting LLM-controlled Diffusion Models27 Nov
  9. 2023GenEval: An Object-Focused Framework for Evaluating Text-to-Image Alignment17 Oct
  10. 2023LLM-grounded Diffusion: Enhancing Prompt Understanding of Text-to-Image Diffusion Models with Large Language Models23 May
  11. 2022Hierarchical Text-Conditional Image Generation with CLIP Latents13 Apr

Other references · 33

  1. 2017Attention Is All You Needcited by 59,932
  2. 2021Learning Transferable Visual Models From Natural Language Supervisioncited by 33,456
  3. 2020An Image is Worth 16x16 Words: Transformers for Image Recognition at Scalecited by 29,915
  4. 2015U-Net: Convolutional Networks for Biomedical Image Segmentationcited by 19,604
  5. 2021High-Resolution Image Synthesis with Latent Diffusion Modelscited by 18,694
  6. 2019Exploring the Limits of Transfer Learning with a Unified Text-to-Text Transformercited by 14,491
  7. 2024The Llama 3 Herd of Modelscited by 14,192
  8. 2023Segment Anythingcited by 8,158
  9. 2022Scalable Diffusion Models with Transformerscited by 5,931
  10. 2021RoFormer: Enhanced Transformer with Rotary Position Embeddingcited by 4,581
  11. 2022Flamingo: a Visual Language Model for Few-Shot Learningcited by 4,337
  12. 2023SDXL: Improving Latent Diffusion Models for High-Resolution Image Synthesiscited by 4,290
21 more
  1. 2024Scaling Rectified Flow Transformers for High-Resolution Image Synthesiscited by 4,094
  2. 2022Flow Straight and Fast: Learning to Generate and Transfer Data with Rectified Flowcited by 3,550
  3. 2024Gemma 2: Improving Open Language Models at a Practical Sizecited by 1,928
  4. 2021Conceptual 12M: Pushing Web-Scale Image-Text Pre-Training To Recognize Long-Tail Visual Conceptscited by 1,209
  5. 2024Gemma: Open Models Based on Gemini Research and Technologycited by 889
  6. 2023PixArt-α: Fast Training of Diffusion Transformer for Photorealistic Text-to-Image Synthesiscited by 854
  7. 2024PaliGemma: A versatile 3B VLM for transfercited by 679
  8. 2024SANA: Efficient High-Resolution Image Synthesis with Linear Diffusion Transformerscited by 331
  9. 2024PixArt-Sigma: Weak-to-Strong Training of Diffusion Transformer for 4K Text-to-Image Generationcited by 326
  10. 2023DreamLLM: Synergistic Multimodal Comprehension and Creationcited by 296
  11. 2025Layer by Layer: Uncovering Hidden Representations in Language Modelscited by 293
  12. 2023JourneyDB: A Benchmark for Generative Image Understandingcited by 203
  13. 2025SANA 1.5: Efficient Scaling of Training-Time and Inference-Time Compute in Linear Diffusion Transformercited by 165
  14. 2024Mixture-of-Transformers: A Sparse and Scalable Architecture for Multi-Modal Foundation Modelscited by 151
  15. 2024Lumina-T2X: Transforming Text into Any Modality, Resolution, and Duration via Flow-based Large Diffusion Transformerscited by 137
  16. 2024Lumina-Next: Making Lumina-T2X Stronger and Faster with Next-DiTcited by 130
  17. 2024LMFusion: Adapting Pretrained Language Models for Multimodal Generationcited by 120
  18. 2024Playground v3: Improving Text-to-Image Alignment with Deep-Fusion Large Language Modelscited by 113
  19. 2023Kosmos-G: Generating Images in Context with Multimodal Large Language Modelscited by 105
  20. 2025Is Noise Conditioning Necessary for Denoising Generative Models?cited by 42
  21. 2024Stretching Each Dollar: Diffusion Training from Scratch on a Micro-Budgetcited by 30

Built on by

Cited by year (2026 to 7 Oct)

Citing papers per year: 2025: 8; 2026: 7.

15 papers.

Sort:

By area:

Similar, not cited

Close in wording, no citation either way

  1. 2023MultiFusion: Fusing Pre-Trained Models for Multi-Lingual, Multi-Modal Image Generation
  2. 2024Multi-modal Generative AI: Multi-modal LLMs, Diffusions, and the Unification
  3. 2025Decoder-Only LLMs are Better Controllers for Diffusion Models
  4. 2024Dual Diffusion for Unified Image Generation and Understanding
  5. 2025LDGen: Enhancing Text-to-Image Synthesis via Large Language Model-Driven Language Representation
  6. 2023DiffBlender: Composable and Versatile Multimodal Text-to-Image Diffusion Models
  7. 2024UNIMO-G: Unified Image Generation through Multimodal Conditional Diffusion
  8. 2024MaxFusion: Plug&Play Multi-Modal Generation in Text-to-Image Diffusion Models