Studio Ghibli AI Trend Sparks ChatGPT Backlash, Resurfaces Old Comments From Hayao Miyazaki, and Even Zelda Williams Has Waded In
Social media is currently flooded with AI-generated Studio Ghibli-inspired images as part of a trend sparked by the launch of OpenAI’s new ChatGPT image generator — and it’s caused a vociferous debate that has seen old anti-AI comments from Hayao Miyazaki resurface.
Social media is currently flooded with AI-generated Studio Ghibli-inspired images as part of a trend sparked by the launch of OpenAI’s new GPT‑4o image generator — and it’s caused a vociferous debate that has seen old anti-AI comments from Hayao Miyazaki resurface.
In a demo of the new native image generation in ChatGPT and Sora led by CEO Sam Altman, OpenAI took a selfie and turned it into an image that looks like Studio Ghibli art.
this was a real labor of love from @gabeeegoooh. congrats gabe; excellent work!
here is what we generated during the livestream: pic.twitter.com/fmHWp4d9AF— Sam Altman (@sama) March 25, 2025
Sam Altman said on X / Twitter that OpenAI “put a lot of thought into the initial examples we show when we introduce new technology,” which suggests the Ghibli style was a deliberate choice.
And, a day after the demo, Altman tweeted:
>be me
>grind for a decade trying to help make superintelligence to cure cancer or whatever
>mostly no one cares for first 7.5 years, then for 2.5 years everyone hates you for everything
>wake up one day to hundreds of messages: "look i made you into a twink ghibli style haha"
Altman also changed his profile picture on X to a Ghibli-style image, which helped to kick off the trend we’re now seeing in which people are using the tech to create Studio Ghibli-style images or add a Studio Ghibli filter to existing images. Even the White House got in on the act with a hugely controversial tweet that sparked a major backlash online.
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
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