'Our GPUs are melting': OpenAI puts restrictions on new ChatGPT image generation tool

ChatGPT's new image generation tool is so popular that parent company OpenAI has to put in place "temporary" limits on how many are generated.

OpenAI released a new version of its artificial intelligence (AI) chatbot ChatGPT this week that lets users transform popular Internet memes or personal photos into the style of Studio Ghibli, a famous Japanese animation studio.

"It's super fun seeing people love images in ChatGPT, but our GPUs are melting," CEO Sam Altman posted on X on Thursday, not specifying what the restricted rate will be but that it "hopefully" won't be in place for very long.

While users love the new feature, it has raised ethical questions about how AI tools train on copyrighted creative works, including the designs of Ghibli founder Hayao Miyazaki.

In a technical paper posted on Tuesday, the company had said the new tool would be taking a "conservative approach" in the way it mimics the aesthetics of individual artists.

"We added a refusal which triggers when a user attempts to generate an image in the style of a living artist," it said.

But the company added in a statement that it "permits broader studio styles - which people have used to generate and share some truly delightful and inspired original fan creations".

OpenAI is already facing other copyright battles from some American newspapers for using their content to train ChatGPT.

Josh Weigensberg, a partner at the law firm Pryor Cashman, told the Associated Press that one question the Ghibli-style AI art raises is whether the AI model was trained on Miyazaki or Studio Ghibli’s work.

That in turn "raises the question of, ‘Well, do they have a license or permission to do that training or not?'" he said.

Weigensberg added that if a work was licensed for