The GEnx uses some technology from the GE90 turbofan,[1] including swept composite fan blades and the 10-stage high-pressure compressor (HPC) featured in earlier variants of the engine.

By fall 2019, General Electric was offering the GEnx-2B, developed for the 747-8, for the revised 767-XF variant based on the 767-400ER, but needed enough volume to cover the new product certification.

[5] On July 28, 2012, the NTSB initiated an investigation of an engine failure that occurred on a Boeing 787 during a pre-delivery taxi test in Charleston, South Carolina.

As a result of investigative work the NTSB has determined that the fan midshafts on the GEnx engines fractured or cracked at the forward end of the shaft where the retaining nut is installed.

The most serious incident involved an AirBridgeCargo freighter; on July 31, while at an altitude of 41,000 feet (12,497 m) over China, the flight crew noted two engines surging while a third lost substantial power.

Among the possible factors cited was "'unique convective weather systems' such as unusually large thunderstorms reaching high altitudes."

[9] Altitude was restricted until GE changed the software to detect the high-altitude ice crystals and open bleed air valve doors to eject them before they enter the core.

[12] Abradable material in the casing in front of the fan blades was ground to keep them from rubbing when ingesting ice or debris on 330 GEnx PIP-2.

[16] The Lean TAPS combustor reduces NOx gases with required pressure loss and backflow margin.