ChatGPT Chaos Over 'Ghibli Art'... "Did Miyazaki Give Permission?"

Sam Altman Boasts, "The GPUs Are Melting" as Popularity Soars
Some Raise Concerns Over Possible Copyright Infringement

OpenAI's 'ChatGPT-4o' has been embroiled in copyright infringement controversy since its release on the 25th (local time). This model features a new image generator that creates various pictures mimicking the style of the famous Japanese animation studio 'Ghibli'.

OpenAI is encouraging ChatGPT-4o users to try 'Ghibli-style drawings.' Sam Altman, OpenAI's CEO, also changed his profile picture on his X account to a 'Ghibli-style' illustration.

The image of former U.S. President Donald Trump transformed into a 'Ghibli-style drawing' created by an overseas netizen. Reddit capture

ChatGPT-4o supports a feature that transforms real photos or drawings into different artistic styles, and a meme of changing images into Ghibli-style drawings quickly gained popularity among netizens, making it famous in no time. CEO Altman said that OpenAI's servers were overloaded due to the Ghibli-style images, adding, "It's really fun to see people like this model. The GPUs are melting."

He added, "We will temporarily limit the use of this feature while improving performance."

However, some argue that these 'Ghibli-style drawings' may infringe on Ghibli Studio's copyrights. Josh Weigensberg, a partner at the law firm Pryor Cashman, told the US 'AP News,' "The issue is whether OpenAI's AI model was trained on Studio Ghibli or Miyazaki's works," and pointed out, "The question will arise whether they obtained licenses or approvals to conduct such training."

Even the CEO of OpenAI changed his profile picture to a 'Ghibli-style drawing.' Screenshot from X

If the AI learned the images without Ghibli's permission, copyright infringement issues could arise in the future. According to Weigensberg, while there is a general principle that the 'style' of a drawing itself is not protected by copyright, it is difficult to say there is no problem at all. Weigensberg cited Ghibli's famous work 'Howl's Moving Castle' as an example.

He said, "You can freeze a frame from a Ghibli film and pick out specific features," adding, "Then, you might find the same or very similar elements in the outputs generated by generative AI." In other words, if specific elements of an artistic work can be identified, it is possible to consider whether copyright infringement has occurred.

Voices criticizing OpenAI are also emerging in the art world. Artist Carla Ortiz, who is suing generative AI companies over copyright issues, told the media, "This is a clear example of companies like OpenAI not caring about artists' works or livelihoods," and strongly condemned, "Such actions use Ghibli's branding, name, achievements, and reputation to advertise their products, which is both an insult and exploitation."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.