Muscat: OpenAI CEO Sam Altman took to X to announce the milestone, calling it reminiscent of the app’s original launch 26 months ago, when ChatGPT hit one million users in five days. “We added one million users in the last hour,” Altman wrote, as Ghibli-style images flooded social media, transforming user photos into scenes reminiscent of Japan’s beloved anime films.

Initially rolled out to ChatGPT Plus, Pro, and Team users on March 26, the feature quickly became available to free-tier users. However, the massive demand overwhelmed the platform’s infrastructure, prompting Altman to warn: “Our GPUs are melting.”

As a result, temporary rate limits are being introduced. Free users will soon be limited to three image generations per day, as the company works to scale up capacity and efficiency.

While the wave of anime avatars and whimsical landscapes delighted users, privacy experts raised red flags. Critics warn that by voluntarily uploading personal photos to ChatGPT and competitor platforms like Grok 3, users could be feeding facial data into training models—bypassing stricter online data scraping regulations.

As Studio Ghibli-inspired images continue to dominate feeds and timelines, the buzz around AI creativity is undeniable. But the viral dreamscape has sparked a new debate — where the lines between fun, innovation, and personal data protection begin to blur.