OpenAI chief executive Sam Altman has acknowledged the copyright concerns surrounding ChatGPT-generated Ghibli-style art but called the trend a “net win for society.”
Speaking during a virtual appearance on a YouTube podcast hosted by Indian entrepreneur Varun Mayya, Altman said the widespread ability to create content is a major positive development, despite the complexities involved.
His comments come amid renewed controversy over AI-generated artwork, sparked by the viral “Ghibli AI” trend on social media. The trend features Ghibli-style renditions of iconic film moments, memes, and even artistic interpretations of breaking news—all of which have raised serious copyright concerns.
Hayao Miyazaki, 84, the legendary filmmaker behind Studio Ghibli, has long expressed scepticism about AI’s role in animation. An old video of Miyazaki recently resurfaced in which he strongly condemned AI-generated animation, calling it “an insult to life itself,” as previously reported by ET.
What happens to user data?
The popularity of the Ghibli-style image generation feature has triggered a surge in user-generated content, with users uploading personal images to be transformed by the tool.
Cybersecurity experts caution that while such tools may seem harmless, their terms of service are often vague, raising concerns about how user data—especially images containing metadata such as location coordinates, timestamps, and device details—is stored and used.
OpenAI’s privacy policy states that it may use user-submitted data to train its models unless users explicitly opt out. However, many users remain unaware of this clause as they eagerly participate in viral trends like Ghibli-fication.
Record surge in users
OpenAI reported that the platform gained one million users within an hour of launching the Ghibli-style image generation feature—a moment Altman described as one of the “craziest viral moments” he has seen.
The company said ChatGPT has since crossed 130 million users, largely fuelled by the new image-generation tool. According to OpenAI COO Brad Lightcap, users have created over 700 million images since 27 March.
ET recently reported that Indian users have spent $8 million on ChatGPT subscriptions via in-app payments since 2023—excluding web-based transactions. In contrast, US users have spent around $330 million during the same period.
Speaking during a virtual appearance on a YouTube podcast hosted by Indian entrepreneur Varun Mayya, Altman said the widespread ability to create content is a major positive development, despite the complexities involved.
His comments come amid renewed controversy over AI-generated artwork, sparked by the viral “Ghibli AI” trend on social media. The trend features Ghibli-style renditions of iconic film moments, memes, and even artistic interpretations of breaking news—all of which have raised serious copyright concerns.
Hayao Miyazaki, 84, the legendary filmmaker behind Studio Ghibli, has long expressed scepticism about AI’s role in animation. An old video of Miyazaki recently resurfaced in which he strongly condemned AI-generated animation, calling it “an insult to life itself,” as previously reported by ET.
What happens to user data?
The popularity of the Ghibli-style image generation feature has triggered a surge in user-generated content, with users uploading personal images to be transformed by the tool.
Cybersecurity experts caution that while such tools may seem harmless, their terms of service are often vague, raising concerns about how user data—especially images containing metadata such as location coordinates, timestamps, and device details—is stored and used.
OpenAI’s privacy policy states that it may use user-submitted data to train its models unless users explicitly opt out. However, many users remain unaware of this clause as they eagerly participate in viral trends like Ghibli-fication.
Record surge in users
OpenAI reported that the platform gained one million users within an hour of launching the Ghibli-style image generation feature—a moment Altman described as one of the “craziest viral moments” he has seen.
The company said ChatGPT has since crossed 130 million users, largely fuelled by the new image-generation tool. According to OpenAI COO Brad Lightcap, users have created over 700 million images since 27 March.
ET recently reported that Indian users have spent $8 million on ChatGPT subscriptions via in-app payments since 2023—excluding web-based transactions. In contrast, US users have spent around $330 million during the same period.
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