Copyright Questions Loom as ChatGPT's Ghibli-Style Images Go Viral 

Hayao Miyazaki of Japan, director of the animated film "Ponyo," poses at a special screening of the film in Los Angeles on July 27, 2009. (AP)
Hayao Miyazaki of Japan, director of the animated film "Ponyo," poses at a special screening of the film in Los Angeles on July 27, 2009. (AP)
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Copyright Questions Loom as ChatGPT's Ghibli-Style Images Go Viral 

Hayao Miyazaki of Japan, director of the animated film "Ponyo," poses at a special screening of the film in Los Angeles on July 27, 2009. (AP)
Hayao Miyazaki of Japan, director of the animated film "Ponyo," poses at a special screening of the film in Los Angeles on July 27, 2009. (AP)

The release of the latest image generator on OpenAI's ChatGPT has triggered an online flood of memes featuring images done in the style of Studio Ghibli, the Japanese studio behind classic animated films like "My Neighbor Totoro" and "Princess Mononoke."

The virality of these images, with OpenAI CEO Sam Altman even changing his profile picture on X to match the style, immediately raised questions about copyright infringement by the ChatGPT maker, which already faces lawsuits regarding the use of source material without permission.

Since the release on Wednesday, AI-generated images depicting Studio Ghibli versions of Elon Musk with US President Donald Trump, "The Lord of the Rings," and even a recreation of the September 11 attacks have gone viral across online platforms.

On Thursday, the White House took part by posting on X a Ghibli-style image of a weeping alleged felon being handcuffed by a US immigration officer before her deportation.

Originally intended to be available on the platform for free, Altman said the huge success of the new generator was unexpected and meant the tool would remain limited to paid users for now.

It was already possible to generate images with ChatGPT, but the latest version is powered by GPT-4o, the company's highest-performing model, and allows sophisticated results to be obtained through very succinct requests, which was not the case before.

After the viral trend, a video from 2016 resurfaced in which Studio Ghibli's legendary director Hayao Miyazaki is seen lashing out during an AI demonstration by staff.

"I would never wish to incorporate this technology into my work at all. I strongly feel that this is an insult to life itself," an English translation of his remarks said in the video.

The trend "is especially insidious and malicious because of how outspokenly scathing Miyazaki has been toward the tech," wrote artist and illustrator Jayd "Chira" Ait-Kaci on Bluesky.

"It's always about contempt for artists, every time," Ait-Kaci added.

OpenAI is facing a barrage of lawsuits over copyright infringements, including one major case with the New York Times and others from artists, musicians and publishers.

The company is aggressively lobbying the White House and Congress to make the use of copyrighted content by AI companies part of the fair use doctrine.

Fair use allowances already apply to search engines or in the case of satire and memes online, and allow companies to freely use copyrighted material without permission.

Bloomberg reported on Wednesday that OpenAI is close to finalizing a $40 billion funding round led by Japan's SoftBank Group that would be the biggest funding round ever for a startup.

OpenAI has projected its annual revenue could exceed $12.7 billion in 2025, up from $3.7 billion expected this year.



Saudi KAUST’s Center of Excellence for Renewable Energy Advances Energy Innovation

KAUST has leveraged the center’s research to boost energy security, reduce environmental impact, create new job opportunities for youth, and continue advancing education, training, and workforce development. (SPA)
KAUST has leveraged the center’s research to boost energy security, reduce environmental impact, create new job opportunities for youth, and continue advancing education, training, and workforce development. (SPA)
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Saudi KAUST’s Center of Excellence for Renewable Energy Advances Energy Innovation

KAUST has leveraged the center’s research to boost energy security, reduce environmental impact, create new job opportunities for youth, and continue advancing education, training, and workforce development. (SPA)
KAUST has leveraged the center’s research to boost energy security, reduce environmental impact, create new job opportunities for youth, and continue advancing education, training, and workforce development. (SPA)

Saudi Arabia’s King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST), through its Center of Excellence for Renewable Energy and Storage Technologies (CREST), has launched initiatives to support innovation in energy fields, in alignment with the goals of Saudi Vision 2030 to transition toward a knowledge-based economy and build sustainable development.

These efforts include transforming new ideas into practical solutions, developing prototypes of KAUST inventions and ensuring their reliability, and scaling up these prototypes through collaboration with local and international partners, reported the Saudi Press Agency on Monday.

KAUST has leveraged the center’s research to boost energy security, reduce environmental impact, create new job opportunities for youth, and continue advancing education, training, and workforce development.

These steps aim to support and localize renewable energy research, boost academic and industrial collaboration, and position the center as a leading research hub and a preferred destination for students, researchers, and faculty members.

CREST Chair Professor Husam Alshareef stressed that the center’s research, focused on prototype development and technology scaling, enhances energy efficiency, reliability, storage, and sustainability.

Many projects are based on innovative technologies developed at KAUST in cooperation with industrial partners. These include advanced photovoltaic cells and new battery chemistries that reduce cooling requirements and fire risks in harsh conditions, as well as lithium extraction and battery recycling to ensure a stable lithium supply and enhance the Kingdom’s battery sector, he added.

The center conducts research on sustainable cooling technologies aimed at improving the performance of electronic devices such as solar panels and LED lights, thereby extending their lifespan, he went on to say.

Additional research includes storing energy in chemical fuels and generating electricity, testing and modeling energy storage technologies, and integrating them across disciplines within the university by merging research strategies involving experts in chemistry, engineering, and software development, he revealed.