OpenAI's decision to extend ChatGPT's image-generation capabilities to free users has triggered an extraordinary viral phenomenon, with Studio Ghibli-inspired creations dominating social media feeds.

According to a report by Mint, the impact was so dramatic that CEO Sam Altman reported the platform gained one million users in a single hour— matching the same growth that originally took five days when ChatGPT first launched.

"The ChatGPT launch 26 months ago was one of the craziest viral moments I'd ever seen, and we added one million users in five days. We added one million users in the last hour," Altman announced on X, confirming that, "image generation has now been rolled out to free users."

This explosive growth follows OpenAI's March 26 rollout of native image generation to paid subscribers. The Studio Ghibli artwork feature quickly captivated users, who eagerly transformed their ideas into images reminiscent of iconic anime films. 

The feature's popularity was so overwhelming that OpenAI had to implement temporary rate limits to prevent their GPUs from "melting" under the demand.

"It's super fun seeing people love images in ChatGPT. But our GPUs are melting," Altman explained on X. "We are going to temporarily introduce some rate limits while we work on making it more efficient. Hopefully won't be long! ChatGPT free tier will get 3 generations per day soon," he added.

While social media reactions celebrated the viral moment, some users questioned the long-term business implications. Comments highlighted concerns about sustainable usage patterns, with one user noting: "If just for fun images, users come and go within days, need more serious day-to-day AI usages." 

Others questioned how OpenAI would transform this consumer enthusiasm into business productivity applications.

ChatGPT, which originally launched in November 2022 as a text-based conversational Artificial Intelligence (AI), continues to evolve rapidly, with this latest image-generation feature representing a significant expansion of its capabilities for the general public.