Copyright questions loom as ChatGPT’s Ghibli-style images go viral

This image released by GKIDS shows Himi, voiced by Karen Fukuhara in English and AIMYON in Japanese, in a scene from Hayao Miyazaki’s “The Boy And The Heron." (Studio Ghibli/GKIDS via AP) (AP)

The release of the latest image generator on OpenAI’s ChatGPT has triggered an online flood of memes featuring images done in the style of Studio Ghibli, the Japanese studio behind classic animated films like “My Neighbor Totoro” and “Princess Mononoke.”

The virality of these images, with OpenAI CEO Sam Altman even changing his profile picture on X to match the style, immediately raised questions about copyright infringement by the ChatGPT maker, which already faces lawsuits regarding the use of source material without permission.

Since the release on Wednesday, AI-generated images depicting Studio Ghibli versions of Elon Musk with U.S. President Donald Trump, “The Lord of the Rings,” and even a recreation of the September 11 attacks have gone viral across online platforms.

On Thursday, the White House took part by posting on X a Ghibli-style image of a weeping alleged felon being handcuffed by a U.S. immigration officer before her deportation.

Originally intended to be available on the platform for free, Altman said the huge success of the new generator was unexpected and meant the tool would remain limited to paid users for now.

It was already possible to generate images with ChatGPT, but the latest version is powered by GPT-4o, the company’s highest-performing model, and allows sophisticated results to be obtained through very succinct requests, which was not the case before.

After the viral trend, a video from 2016 resurfaced in which Studio Ghibli’s legendary director Hayao Miyazaki is seen lashing out during an AI demonstration from staff.

“I would never wish to incorporate this technology into my work at all. I strongly feel that this is an insult to life itself,” an English translation of his remarks said in the video.

The trend “is especially insidious and malicious because of how outspokenly scathing Miyazaki has been toward the tech,” wrote artist and illustrator Jayd “Chira” Ait-Kaci on Bluesky.

“It’s always about contempt for artists, every time,” Ait-Kaci added.

OpenAI is facing a barrage of lawsuits over copyright infringements, including one major case with the New York Times and others from artists, musicians and publishers.

The company is meanwhile aggressively lobbying the White House and Congress to make the use of copyrighted content by AI companies part of the fair use doctrine.

Fair use allowances already apply to search engines or in the case of satire and memes online, and allow companies to freely use copyrighted material without permission.

Bloomberg reported on Wednesday that OpenAI is close to finalizing a $40 billion funding round led by Japan’s SoftBank Group that would be the biggest funding round ever for a startup.

OpenAI has projected its annual revenue could exceed $12.7 billion in 2025, up from $3.7 billion expected this year.