OpenAI's Ghibli impresses users with its ability to create detailed, hand-painted visuals reminiscent of Hayao Miyazaki’s works.

The disruption reportedly happened due to a sudden surge in demand, possibly from users generating AI images and text.

Studio Ghibli is the home of iconic characters like Kaonashi, or No-Face, from 2001's 'Spirited Away' . | Credit: Tomohiro Ohsumi / Stringer / OpenAI, the parent company of ChatGPT, is no stranger to controversy,

“I want legal action to be taken… I can’t stand seeing Ghibli treated so cheaply" One Piece director Megumi Ishitani has called out the Studio Ghibli AI art trend, demanding legal action against the “unauthorized” use of Miyazaki’s art pic.twitter.com/zb8n7oFOxW — Dexerto (@Dexerto) April 2, 2025

OpenAI's ChatGPT experienced immense growth following the release of its image generation feature, with users creating over 700 million images in a week. India emerged as the fastest-growing market for ChatGPT,

The pace of ChatGPT’s development feels unstoppable but strategy and creative experts think its reputational damage could push brands towards working with real artists, while one ethical AI platform says it is ‘actively cleaning up’ OpenAI’s mess.

The Ghibli-style image trend has sparked ethical debates about AI tools trained on copyrighted creative works and their impact on human artists. Legendary animator Hayao Miyazaki, known for his hand-drawn style, has expressed skepticism about AI’s role in animation.

Open AI's native image generation in ChatGPT, known as Studio Ghibli, is making waves online. A recent viral image of Sam Altman, the company's boss, shows him in an Indian cricket jersey. Altman praised India's rapid AI adoption and creativity explosion on social media.