OpenAI’s latest advancement in generative AI has captivated the internet and sparked a heated debate. The company’s new image generation feature, powered by its GPT-4o model and now available in ChatGPT, has gone viral for its uncanny ability to transform everyday photos into stunning Studio Ghibli-style animation stills.
From pinky, dreamy reimaginations of stars to frolicsome scenes from the past, social feeds are full of these AI-generated images. Yet while the public has welcomed the phenomenon with great enthusiasm, the virality has also raised some sobering concerns—technical, legal, and ethical.
A Viral Sensation That’s Pushing Infrastructure to Its Limits
The rollout has been so wildly popular that it’s straining OpenAI’s technical capacity. CEO Sam Altman put it bluntly: “It’s super fun seeing people love images in ChatGPT. But our GPUs are melting.” Demand has skyrocketed to the point where OpenAI has imposed temporary rate limits—free-tier users can now generate only three images per day—as the company works to optimize efficiency and avoid further strain on its systems.
That pressure is no surprise. Generating images takes a lot of computing power, fueled by energy-guzzling GPUs and massive cloud infrastructure. And with millions of people now creating images, even tech giants like OpenAI are heating up—literally.
Ghibli-Style Art Takes Over the Internet
Behind all the hype is the Studio Ghibli look—ornate, whimsical, and ultra-nostalgic. People are swarming into ChatGPT with requests to produce Ghibli-style headshots of politicians and pets, podcasters, and more. Even Altman has gotten in on it, changing his profile picture on X (formerly Twitter) to a Ghibli-themed image, fueling the phenomenon.
But with such fanciful creations inundating the web, a more complex problem is on the rise—who owns the look, and is it fair to copy it without asking?
Artistic Integrity and the Copyright Debate
The popularity of AI art in the style of Ghibli has revived worries about consent, copyright, and the ethics of using current works for training AI. Critics across the board, including legal experts and many artists, contend that generative AI models are often trained on copyrighted material with little permission from creators.
OpenAI is already subject to high-profile lawsuits, among them one from The New York Times and others brought by artists, musicians, and publishers alleging copyright violations. Applying the Ghibli look is particularly sensitive. Iconic filmmaker Hayao Miyazaki, the creative spark behind Studio Ghibli, has long been an outspoken detractor of AI art. In a much-viewed 2016 interview, he called AI art “an insult to life itself.”
Most artists today regard the trend as not only legally problematic, but also culturally tone-deaf. “It’s particularly insidious and sinister,” said artist Jayd “Chira” Ait-Kaci, “due to how publicly viciously Miyazaki has been against the tech” (GMA News).
To alleviate increasing pushback, OpenAI has made some assurances. Based on the system card for GPT-4o’s image creation, the corporation rejects requests to clone the style of active artists. But there is a loophole.
While ChatGPT’s free version will often decline to generate images explicitly “in the style of Studio Ghibli,” users sometimes receive Ghibli-like results with more subtle or indirect prompts. OpenAI says the distinction lies in referencing “studio styles” versus mimicking specific living artists. Still, with Ghibli’s most iconic creators—Miyazaki included—very much alive, critics argue this is a loophole, not a safeguard.
A Multibillion-Dollar Moment for OpenAI
All of this is occurring while OpenAI is said to be closing in on a record-breaking $40 billion funding round, led by SoftBank. With estimated yearly revenues poised to exceed $12.7 billion, the company is solidifying itself as the tech industry’s top dog.
But with scale comes scrutiny. OpenAI’s image generator exemplifies the central tension in generative AI today: the technology is undeniably powerful, accessible, and awe-inspiring. But it’s also raising profound questions about creativity, ownership, and the future of artistic labor.
As the Ghibli-style trend continues to spread, so too does the conversation about what responsible AI development really looks like—and who gets a say in how these tools reshape creative expression.
