"Draw it in Ghibli style" goes viral... Altman says graphics hardware is melting

Over 1.2 Million Daily Users Amid 'Ghibli-Style' Image Craze
Surpassing 1 Million for the First Time in Just Two Weeks

Photo by reporter, Ghibli-style image generated by ChatGPT

OpenAI's recently released 'ChatGPT-4o Image Generation' model has gained explosive popularity, leading to ChatGPT's daily active users (DAU) reaching the 1.2 million mark for the first time.

According to Mobile Index by data platform company IGAWorks on the 1st, as of the 27th of last month, ChatGPT's domestic daily active users (DAU) in South Korea were recorded at an all-time high of 1,252,925. On the 10th of last month, ChatGPT's DAU first surpassed 1 million at 1,033,733, meaning the record was broken again in about two weeks. As of the 1st of last month, ChatGPT's DAU was only 799,571.

This surge in users is analyzed to be influenced by OpenAI's newly released image generation AI model 'ChatGPT-4o Image Generation' launched on the 25th of last month. Since the model's release, images transformed into the art style of famous animation studios have rapidly spread on social networking services (SNS). In particular, images mimicking the art style of Japan's famous animation studio 'Studio Ghibli' have become a global trend.

Photo by ChatGPT, Ghibli-style image generated

Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI, the developer of ChatGPT, also attracted attention by uploading his X (X, formerly Twitter) profile picture in the Ghibli art style. This model is an image generation model combined with OpenAI's multimodal AI model 'ChatGPT-4o' that generates images by understanding the user's intent without the need to input commands one by one.

However, various side effects and concerns have also arisen. As demand for image generation using ChatGPT surged, CEO Altman expressed concerns about technical side effects, saying, "GPUs are melting down." Leaving all content creation to general users' discretion has raised concerns about cultural wars and the spread of hateful content. Since the model's main feature is producing results freely applying the 'art style' of specific animations, debates are expected to continue regarding the extent to which the copyrights of original content creators should be protected.