Despite Anger Over "Cheap Treatment," 100 Million Daily Creations... 'Jiburi Profile Pictures' Explode

OpenAI COO: "130 Million Users in the First Week"
Animation Industry Outraged

OpenAI's generative artificial intelligence (AI) ChatGPT has surpassed 700 million images created within a week after launching a new model equipped with image generation capabilities, with 'Ghibli style' illustrations gaining worldwide popularity.

Photo by a reporter from this newspaper, a Ghibli-style image generated by ChatGPT

Brad Lightcap, Chief Operating Officer (COO) of OpenAI, said on the 3rd (local time) on his X (formerly Twitter), "The first week of ChatGPT image release was absolutely crazy," adding, "More than 130 million users generated over 700 million images."

He continued, "India is currently the fastest-growing ChatGPT market," and noted, "The range of creativity shown (in India) has been very encouraging." The Indian government posted on its official X account an image transformed into Ghibli style depicting Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi meeting with former U.S. President Donald Trump and French President Emmanuel Macron.

Brad explained, "We are working hard to provide service to everyone," and expressed, "Thank you for your patience. The team continues to work around the clock."

AI image posted by Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI, on his X. X

Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI, also joined the popularity wave by posting a Ghibli-style portrait of himself on X, saying, "Our GPUs are melting." He pleaded, "Everyone, please take a break from image generation," adding, "This is madness. Our team needs sleep," while changing his profile picture to the Ghibli style.

Thanks to this, ChatGPT's weekly active users (WAU) increased by about 150 million compared to the end of last year, and the number of paid subscribers rose by approximately 4.5 million, surpassing 20 million.

Domestic daily active users (DAU) are also breaking records daily. According to Mobile Index by data platform company IGAWorks, ChatGPT's DAU was only 799,571 on the 1st of last month but reached 1.4 million on the 30th, 1.98 million on the 31st, and 2.55 million on the 1st of this month. The number of users has more than tripled in just one month.

Ghibli-style image generated by ChatGPT based on a photo by a reporter from this publication

However, the animation industry expressed outrage. Megumi Ishitani, director of One Piece, said on her social media on the 1st, "To tarnish the name of Ghibli, I will never forgive this," adding, "I want to take legal action. I can no longer watch Ghibli animation being treated so cheaply."

Henry Selick, an American animation director who worked on One Piece, Naruto, and Pok?mon, also posted on social media on the 28th of last month, saying, "People who call this the democratization of art are deceiving themselves and lying," and criticized, "Becoming a great artist or director or an Olympic athlete cannot be democratized. Lifelong effort is required, and that will never change."