Sam Altman teases Version 2 after the overwhelming success of the Studio Ghibli-themed photos

The viral trend saw people worldwide flooding social media with AI-generated images mimicking the iconic hand-drawn style of Studio Ghibli. The craze for creating Ghibli-style artwork using ChatGPT’s image-generation tool caused a record spike in OpenAI chatbot users last week, putting a strain on its servers and temporarily restricting access to the feature.

Also Read: Amid Deepseek pressure, why OpenAI is launching an ‘open weight’ AI model

This week, the internet was abuzz with everyone—from influencers to politicians—jumping on the trend to transform their photos into Ghibli-style artwork.

Studio Ghibli AI Art Trend Sparks Unprecedented Surge in ChatGPT Usage

The overwhelming demand for the new tool led to unprecedented user growth for OpenAI’s chatbot. Now, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman has teased a second version of the feature, hinting that it will be even more groundbreaking—something he believes users aren’t prepared for yet.

Also Read: Is Uploading Photos for a Studio Ghibli Makeover on ChatGPT Safe?

Users worldwide have been using ChatGPT to generate art in the hand-drawn, whimsical style that has defined Studio Ghibli’s iconic films like ‘Spirited Away’ and ‘My Neighbor Totoro’. The demand proved so overwhelming that it strained OpenAI’s servers at one point, temporarily limiting the tool’s accessibility.

The surge saw ChatGPT’s weekly active users surpass 150 million for the first time this year, according to data from market research firm Similarweb.

Also Read: Yunus urged China to strengthen economic ties with Bangladesh, linking it to northeastern India