Seoul, April 1
The daily active users (DAU) of ChatGPT, a generative artificial intelligence (AI) service developed by OpenAI, rose to a new high last month, driven by the popularity of its new image filter that transforms personal photos into famous Japanese animation-style illustrations, industry data showed on Tuesday.
ChatGPT's DAU reached a record 1.25 million as of last Thursday, up from 1.03 million on March 10 and 790,000 on March 1, according to the data from industry tracker IGAWorks.
The rapid growth came with OpenAI's new image-generation tool, which allows users to convert their photos into illustrations inspired by Studio Ghibli films, reports Yonhap news agency.
Founded by Hayao Miyazaki, Studio Ghibli is a Japanese animation studio behind famous films, such as "My Neighbor Totoro," "Howl's Moving Castle" and "Spirited Away."
The new image tool gained global attention after OpenAI Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Sam Altman changed his profile picture on X, formerly Twitter, to a Ghibli-style version of himself, sparking a wave of user interest.
However, the surge in AI-generated animated images has raised copyright concerns and technological issues.
Altman said OpenAI plans to introduce rate limits on the feature, saying, "Our graphic processing units are melting."
In a post on social media platform X, he said: "Can yall please chill on generating images this is insane our team needs sleep (sic)".
Despite his appeal, many users were not convinced, with some even suggesting that he should fire his team. Responding to one such post, Altman defended his team, saying they had built one of the biggest websites in the world in just 2.33 years.
"No thanks. In addition to building AGI, this team is on trajectory to build the biggest website in the world from a cold start 2.33 years ago," Altman replied to the post.
On March 25, OpenAI introduced its newest AI-powered image generator, integrated with ChatGPT's GPT-4o model. This feature allows users to refine images iteratively and maintain consistency across multiple edits. Since its launch, there has been a surge in user engagement, with many experimenting by transforming images into various artistic styles, including Studio Ghibli.
— IANS
Reader Comments
The Ghibli filter is absolutely magical! Turned my cat into a Totoro-like creature and it's the cutest thing ever 🥹 Can't stop making these!
While the tech is impressive, I worry about the copyright implications. Studio Ghibli didn't authorize this use of their art style. AI companies should be more careful about these things.
Made my whole family into Spirited Away characters for our group chat and now everyone's obsessed. This is the most fun I've had with AI in ages!
The server load issues show how unprepared they were for this feature's popularity. Maybe they should have done more stress testing before launch?
As an animator, I'm torn - the results are beautiful but it makes me wonder about the future of human artists. The tech is amazing but we need to find balance.
Altman's tweet about GPUs melting made me laugh 😂 But seriously, give the team some credit - building something this popular is no small feat!
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