In an era where OpenAI has not only redefined AI technology but also sparked a cultural phenomenon, the emergence of the Ghibli-style trend—吉卜力風潮—has taken center stage. When OpenAI unleashed GPT-4o's image generation capability, the internet exploded with waves of Ghibli-style AI portraits. These weren’t just gimmicky filters or nostalgic fan art.
They may have been part of a larger, strategic move by OpenAI—one that’s subtly positioning the company not just as a technology leader, but as a cultural architect.
Even CEO Sam Altman quietly joined the momentum, updating his X (formerly Twitter) profile with a Ghibli-style AI portrait of himself.
It may not have been a coincidence. Some observers saw it as part of a carefully unfolding narrative.
Beyond Features: OpenAI Is Crafting a Cultural Moment
This wasn’t the first time Ghibli-style AI art hit the internet. A year ago, TikTok users experimented with anime-style filters using Midjourney and Stable Diffusion, but the trend quickly faded. What’s different this time is how OpenAI rolled it out—not just with technical upgrades, but with a full-blown narrative experience.
GPT-4o wasn’t just launched—it was seeded into the culture, designed to spread.
Timeline: The Rise of GPT-4o’s Ghibli Image Phenomenon
- March 25, 2025 – GPT-4o’s image generation feature is officially released.
- March 27, 2025 – Ghibli-style images go viral across social platforms.
- March 27, 2025 – Sam Altman posts on X: “...our GPUs are melting.”
- March 28, 2025 – OpenAI limits image generation for free users (3/day).
- March 28, 2025 – OpenAI updates its image moderation policy, allowing ChatGPT to depict public figures, cultural symbols, and race-specific features.
- March 30, 2025 – Users begin reporting renewed restrictions on Ghibli-style prompts.
“I wasn’t able to generate the image because the request didn’t follow content policy guidelines.”
Whether intentional or algorithmic, this re-tightening may have intensified public curiosity and virality. - March 30, 2025 – ChatGPT gains one million new users in one hour.
- March 31, 2025 – OpenAI closes $40B funding, valuation hits $300B.
- April 1, 2025 – GPT-4o becomes available to all users, with limitations.
- April 1, 2025 – 11:50 PM – Sam Altman posts again on X:
“Expect new releases to be delayed… stuff to break… service to be slow as we deal with capacity challenges.”
“If anyone has GPU capacity in 100k chunks we can get ASAP, please call!”
The Real Engine Behind the $300B Valuation
OpenAI’s true power isn’t just technical excellence, but storytelling mastery.
That’s what drives global engagement—and has helped shape the perception that supports its valuation.
They’ve figured out three essential ingredients:
Build features people want to use, not just admire. Embed every launch with emotional resonance and imaginative triggers. Turn leadership into a relatable media persona, not just a name on a press release.
While other AI companies chase academic benchmarks, OpenAI is busy shaping emotional brand landscapes, creating shareable moments, and cultivating participatory desire.
And here’s the kicker—CEO Sam Altman recently revealed that the image tool has become so popular, it’s literally “melting” OpenAI’s GPUs. The company had to impose temporary limits due to demand overload.
But even more intriguingly, OpenAI appears to be using strategic access restriction to fuel desire.
The new GPT-4o image generator, with its stunning Ghibli-style output, was initially withheld from free-tier users. And even now, the free version of ChatGPT refuses to generate images explicitly in the “Studio Ghibli” style, citing policy violations.
When users attempted to request Ghibli-style images, ChatGPT often replied:
“I wasn’t able to generate the image because the request didn’t follow content policy guidelines.”
This is classic hungry marketing—limit access just enough to spark curiosity, exclusivity, and a viral sense of missing out. You don’t just use the tool—you chase the story.
And it worked. According to Sam Altman, the release of the free Ghibli-style image generation feature attracted one million new users in just one hour—a staggering milestone that demonstrates the explosive power of narrative-driven virality.
Beyond Innovation: The Hidden Engine of Tech Success
Truly successful companies don’t just build cutting-edge tools. They understand what happens after the innovation—diffusion, participation, and emotional resonance.
And that’s where marketing steps in—not as advertising, but as cultural engineering.
Great marketing doesn’t just promote. It choreographs emotion, desire, and momentum.
It turns curiosity into community, and users into evangelists.
OpenAI is showing us what it means to win not just on performance, but on presence.
Not just on specs, but on story.
Conclusion: Marketing Is the Soul of Innovation
In today’s hyperconnected world, marketing is no longer a department—it is the soul of innovation.
Because no matter how advanced your model is,
if no one talks about it, dreams through it, or believes in it,
it’s just another update in the void.
OpenAI’s real breakthrough wasn’t just in training a smarter model.
It was in making the world want to live inside that model’s story.
And that… is where the future of AI branding begins.
中文摘要
OpenAI 推出 GPT-4o 圖像生成功能後，引發全球性的「吉卜力風潮」。成千上萬使用者分享 AI 生成的吉卜力風格頭像與作品，瞬間成為社群熱訊。而這場風潮背後，正體現了 OpenAI 不只是技術領導者，更是一位善於操作敘事節奏的品牌導演。
Sam Altman 在 X 平台上換上吉卜力風格頭像、發布 GPU 壓力貼文，再到免費版本出現「內容政策限制」的回應，這一連串看似自然的使用者與產品互動，實際上組成了一個高度參與的品牌敘事體驗。
文章回顧了從 GPT-4o 功能開放、圖片政策放容、再到內容重新收縮的轉折，說明 OpenAI 如何透過飢餓行銷與情緒參與，引發使用者主動參與與傳播。這波話題操作並不是估值上升的直接原因，卻成為公司宣布 3,000 億美元估值的完美時機與公關助力，將敘事節奏與資本市場形成強烈共鳴。
本文強調，在生成式 AI 的時代，技術力固然重要，但能否引發用戶共鳴、創造文化感染力，才是品牌價值真正爆發的關鍵。OpenAI 所展現的，正是「敘事驅動式創新」的最佳示範。
References
- Altman, S. [@sama]. (2025, April 1). Expect new releases from OpenAI to be delayed... If anyone has GPU capacity in 100k chunks, please call! [Post]. X. https://twitter.com/sama
- TechCrunch. (2025, March 28). OpenAI peels back ChatGPT’s safeguards around image creation. TechCrunch. https://techcrunch.com/2025/03/28/openai-peels-back-chatgpts-safeguards-around-image-creation/
- India Today. (2025, March 27). Ghibli-style pictures take over X thanks to ChatGPT’s new image generation feature. India Today. https://www.indiatoday.in/technology/news/story/ghibli-style-pictures-take-over-x-thanks-to-chatgpts-new-image-generation-feature-2699771-2025-03-27
- The Verge. (2025, March 29). ChatGPT says “our GPUs are melting” as it puts limit on image generation requests. The Verge. https://www.theverge.com/news/637542/chatgpt-says-our-gpus-are-melting-as-it-puts-limit-on-image-generation-requests
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