A new generator rolled out by OpenAI’s ChatGPT has triggered a flood of artificial intelligence-made images specifically in the style of Studio Ghibli, the Japanese animation studio behind classic films like My Neighbor Totoro and Princess Mononoke.
OpenAI’s CEO, Sam Altman, even changed his profile picture on X, formerly Twitter, to match the trend.
But the virality of the Ghibli-like images made using the generative AI chatbot has immediately raised questions about copyright infringement. ChatGPT already faces lawsuits regarding the use of source material without permission.
Since its release on Wednesday, AI-generated images have gone viral across online platforms. On Thursday, the United States White House took part by posting a Ghibli-style image on X of a weeping woman being handcuffed by a US immigration officer before her deportation.
Originally intended to be available on the platform for free, Altman said the huge success of the new generator was unexpected and meant the tool would remain limited to paid users for now.
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It was already possible to generate images with ChatGPT, but the latest version is powered by GPT-4o, the company’s highest-performing model, and allows sophisticated results to be obtained through very succinct requests, which was not the case before.
After the viral trend, a video from 2016 resurfaced in which Studio Ghibli’s legendary director Hayao Miyazaki is seen lashing out during an AI generated animation demonstration by staff.
“I would never wish to incorporate this technology into my work at all. I strongly feel that this is an insult to life itself,” an English translation of his remarks said in the video.
The trend “is especially insidious and malicious because of how outspokenly scathing Miyazaki has been toward the tech,” wrote artist and illustrator Jayd “Chira” Ait-Kaci on social media platform Bluesky.
“It’s always about contempt for artists, every time,” Ait-Kaci added.
OpenAI is facing a barrage of lawsuits over copyright infringements, including one major case with The New York Times and others from artists, musicians and publishers.
When asked by Agence France-Presse about the latest viral trend and whether it threatened Studio Ghibli’s intellectual property, OpenAI said the company is still fine-tuning its model.
“Our goal is to give users as much creative freedom as possible,” a company spokesperson told Agence France-Presse.
“We continue to prevent generations in the style of individual living artists, but we do permit broader studio styles, which people have used to generate and share some truly delightful and inspired original fan creations,” she added.
“We’re always learning from real-world use and feedback, and we’ll keep refining our policies as we go.”
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The company is aggressively lobbying the White House and Congress to make the use of copyrighted content by AI companies part of the fair use doctrine.
Fair use already applies to search engines and online satire and memes, allowing companies to freely use copyrighted material without permission.
Bloomberg reported on Wednesday that OpenAI is close to finalising a $40 billion funding round led by Japan’s SoftBank Group, which would be the biggest funding round ever for a start-up.
OpenAI has projected its annual revenue could exceed $12.7 billion in 2025, up from $3.7 billion generated in 2024.
