Ghibli Effect: ChatGPT Usage Hits Record After Viral Feature Rollout
- ChatGPT’s weekly active users surpassed 150 million for the first time this year, with OpenAI adding one million users in a single hour.
- Global app downloads increased by 11%, while in-app purchase revenue rose by 6% following the viral adoption of the AI image tool.
ChatGPT saw an unprecedented spike in users after launching a viral image-generation tool that mimics Studio Ghibli’s iconic hand-drawn style. The surge in demand briefly overwhelmed OpenAI’s servers, causing temporary feature limits and sporadic outages.
The chatbot’s average weekly active users crossed 150 million for the first time this year. OpenAI CEO Sam Altman highlighted the rapid adoption rate, revealing in an X post on Monday that "we added one million users in the last hour."
This milestone contrasts with ChatGPT’s initial launch, which took five days to reach the same user count.
Data from SensorTower shows app downloads and in-app revenue also hit all-time highs last week, with global downloads rising 11% and weekly active users increasing by 5% compared to the previous week.
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This sudden influx of users has led to a series of glitches and slowdowns. OpenAI acknowledged the strain on its infrastructure, warning that new releases may be delayed as they address capacity issues.
"You should expect new releases from OpenAI to be delayed, stuff to break, and for service to sometimes be slow," the company stated.
As millions generate AI images in Studio Ghibli’s style, questions arise regarding copyright infringement. Legal experts note that while copyright law protects specific expressions, artistic styles themselves remain in a legal gray area.
Studio Ghibli co-founder Miyazaki’s 2016 comments resurfaced amid the trend, with the legendary animator stating, "I am utterly disgusted" when shown an early AI-generated image, reinforcing his long-standing opposition to AI in creative work.
Edited by Harshajit Sarmah
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