ChatGPT Struggles with Demand for Ghibli Image Feature
On Sunday, March 30, 2025, ChatGPT users faced significant disruptions as the popular AI platform experienced an outage. The issues began on Saturday evening and escalated by Sunday afternoon, leaving many users unable to access the service. Social media was flooded with frustrated posts, as users encountered error messages and were unable to use the chatbot.
The root of the problem? An overwhelming surge in demand for ChatGPT’s new feature that generates images in the style of Studio Ghibli, the renowned Japanese animation studio. The feature quickly gained attention after a viral post by software engineer Grant Slatton, who shared an AI-generated image of his family in the beloved Ghibli aesthetic. The image quickly caught the public’s imagination, sparking a widespread trend of users creating their own Ghibli-style artworks.
In response to the overwhelming demand, OpenAI acknowledged the strain on its servers and temporarily implemented rate limits to help manage the load. CEO Sam Altman addressed the issue, assuring users that the team was working on optimizing the feature. OpenAI later confirmed that all impacted services were restored and that the outage was fully resolved.
While the outage primarily affected the web version of ChatGPT, some users reported that the mobile app remained functional throughout the disruptions. OpenAI is now focused on improving its infrastructure to prevent similar problems in the future. Additionally, the company plans to release a Root Cause Analysis (RCA) within the next five business days to provide more transparency on the technical challenges behind the outage.
As AI-driven technologies continue to grow in popularity, these types of challenges highlight the importance of ensuring scalability and reliability as demand skyrockets. OpenAI’s quick response and commitment to addressing the issue show that they are working to maintain service stability and meet user expectations moving forward.
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