internet freaks out about chatGPT's studio ghibli-style AI images

ChatGPT-4o can generate Studio Ghibli-style AI images

OpenAI introduces ChatGPT-4o that can generate Studio Ghibli-style AI images, raising copyright infringement concerns. On March 25th, 2025, the AI organization rolls out GPT-4o, describing the model as capable of precise, accurate, photorealistic outputs. OpenAI CEO Sam Altman leads the unveiling as he posts a picture of him with his researchers, generated by the GPT-4o and evidently in the signature style of Studio Ghibli. Soon enough, X users have picked up the trend. They upload their images to ChatGPT and ask the AI language model to replicate them in the form of Studio Ghibli. So far, the results capture and imitate the ‘house’ style of the studio.

Generating Studio Ghibli AI images using the upgraded ChatGPT raises copyright concerns. Recently, the US Copyright Office says that AI art can be copyrighted only if there’s human input involved in the making. In the Office’s January 2025 report, it states that fully AI-generated art is not copyrightable. On the other hand, artists and creatives who use AI as an ‘assistant’ to produce their works are protected by copyright laws, but they need to ‘prove’ that they’re involved in the process. In this case, where users freely upload their images and prompt ChatGPT to recreate their photos as Studio Ghibli AI images, these generated results may fall under ‘fully AI-generated art.’

still of Spirited Away (2001) | image courtesy of Studio Ghibli

‘this is an insult to life itself’, says Hayao Miyazaki

X users have quickly picked up the Studio Ghibli AI images as soon as OpenAI CEO Sam Altman announces the new generator. He’s even changed his profile picture, alongside his researchers, using this style. The news about the new image generation model has spread fast, prompting users to even use it to reproduce memes into Studio Ghibli AI images. Other users point out the 2016 documentary of the studio’s co-founder, Hayao Miyazaki. Here, someone shows the Japanese animator and filmmaker an AI-generated video. He replies then that he’s ‘utterly disgusted.’ He never wants to use the technology in any of his works. ‘I strongly feel that this is an insult to life itself,’ he adds.

Hayao Miyazaki and Studio Ghibli are known for their animated films My Neighbor Totoro (1988), Kiki’s Delivery Service (1989), and Spirited Away (2001). In the same documentary series, which spans four episodes, the renowned Japanese animator documents his creative process. One of the videos demonstrates that a four-second crowd scene from the studio’s movie The Wind Rises (2013) takes the design team a year and three months to illustrate and animate. OpenAI’s ChatGPT-4o can imitate it in less than a minute or 30 seconds. ‘We think people will love it, and we are excited to see the resulting creativity,’ Sam Altman posts on his X thread during the launch.

still of My Neighbor Totoro (1988) | image courtesy of Studio Ghibli

ChatGPT can’t generate image ‘due to content policy restrictions’

We ask ChatGPT-4o to reproduce a photo into a Studio Ghibli-style AI image in two ways. The first one is through a prompt. We ask the model first if it can generate such an image. ‘I can generate images inspired by Studio Ghibli’s style—soft lighting, hand-painted textures, whimsical settings, and dreamy color palettes—but they won’t be exact replicas of Ghibli’s work,’ the language model replies. When broadly asked to generate a student studying, ChatGPT then says ‘I wasn’t able to generate the image because the request didn’t follow our content policy.’

We then clarify its previous answer. ‘I can definitely create an image inspired by Studio Ghibli’s style!’ it says. When we ask to reproduce yet again a student studying, the language model replies that it can’t because of content policy. In our second attempt, we upload an image and request to have it transformed into a Studio Ghibli-style AI image. ‘I can definitely stylize this into a Studio Ghibli-inspired illustration! I’ll apply soft, painterly textures, warm lighting, and a whimsical feel. Let me process the image now,’ the model replies. In the end, ChatGPT isn’t able to generate the image ‘due to content policy restrictions.’ It’s only been a few days since its launch. Because of the overwhelming usage and copyright questions, the free-tier ChatGPT restricts generating Studio Ghibli-style AI images.

Disaster Girl meme transformed into Studio Ghibli-style AI image | image via @heyBarsee

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman changes his X profile picture using this style

we are launching a new thing today—images in chatgpt!
two things to say about it:
1. it’s an incredible technology/product. i remember seeing some of the first images come out of this model and having a hard time they were really made by AI. we think people will love it, and we…
— Sam Altman (@sama) March 25, 2025

Sam Altman announces the new image generator

It’s been 24 hours since OpenAI unexpectedly shook the AI image world with 4o image generation.
Here are the 14 most mindblowing examples so far (100% AI-generated):
1. Studio ghibli style memespic.twitter.com/E38mBnPnQh
— Barsee 🐶 (@heyBarsee) March 26, 2025