‘This is a negative platform’: Sam Altman on bringing joy to X with Ghibli effect

Sam Altman, Elon Musk

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and Elon Musk rarely see eye to eye, especially when it comes to AI and social media, and now Altman has taken a fresh jab at X (formerly Twitter). He called it a "negative platform”. However, he was happy to bring about some “positivity” on the platform with the AI-generated Ghibli-style images, despite the criticisms it received for mimicking Hayao Miyazaki’s work without giving him due credits.

It all started when users began sharing heartwarming AI-made pictures of their families and loved ones in the style of Studio Ghibli. The sudden wave of cozy, nostalgic art led one user, Sohail Ahmed, to tweet: “After a long time, I see positivity on X because of people sharing cute images of their family and loved ones. Thanks, Sam.”

Altman acknowledged the trend but also hinted at the chaos behind the scenes. “Can y’all please chill on generating images? This is insane. Our team needs sleep,” he tweeted, as OpenAI’s servers struggled to keep up with the demand.

Then came his more blunt observation: “This is generally a quite negative platform, so I am happy we were able to bring some joy temporarily.” That statement hit a nerve. Some users agreed that X had become a toxic space.

OpenAI

The Ghibli-style images were made using OpenAI’s latest image-generation tool, which quickly became a viral sensation. While many embraced the trend, critics raised concerns about AI replacing human creativity and the environmental cost of running such large-scale AI operations.

Altman’s remark about X’s negativity isn’t shocking. The platform has long been accused of fueling outrage, misinformation, and hostility. Elon Musk’s takeover and rebranding of Twitter as X was meant to fix things, but many argue that the problem persists.