ChatGPT currently encountering record growth after unleashing a new AI image generation feature, according to OpenAI boss Sam Altman.
1 million new users were added to the AI assistant in just an hour amid “biblical demand” for its GPT-4o, which is now available for free users of the app.
The ChatGPT launch 26 months ago was one of the craziest viral moments I’d ever seen, and we added one million users in five days,” Mr Altman wrote on X on Monday. “We added one million users in the last hour.”
OpenAI said it designed the latest ChatGPT feature to be “not only beautiful, but useful”, allowing people to generate highly-detailed images, as well as logos, diagrams and imagery conveying precise meaning.
GPT‑4o image generation excels at accurately rendering text, exactly following prompts, and leveraging 4o’s inherent knowledge base and chat context – including transforming uploaded images or using them as visual inspiration,” an OpenAI blog post stated.
"These capabilities make it easier to create exactly the image you envision, helping you communicate more effectively through visuals and advancing image generation into a practical tool with precision and power.”
ChatGPT users shared thousands of Studio Ghibli-style images on social media, with Mr Altman disclosing that the massive demand forced OpenAI to introduce limits to the number of images people can create.
“It’s super fun seeing people love images in ChatGPT,” he wrote. “But our GPUs are melting. We are going to temporarily introduce some rate limits while we work on making it more efficient.”
OpenAI has declared intentions to further “push the frontiers of AI research” on Monday, after closing a $40 billion funding round.
The latest financing values the ChatGPT creator at $300 billion, and this has made it one of the world’s most valuable private companies.