OpenAI Faces GPU Crisis with Ghibli-Style Image Demand Surge; Altman Seeks Solutions

OpenAI’s recent update to its GPT-4o image generation feature, which heavily favors Studio Ghibli-style art, has strained its GPU resources due to overwhelming demand. CEO Sam Altman revealed that the GPUs are at their limit, as over a million new users joined within an hour, leading to system strain. This has led OpenAI to ration the service for free users and urgently seek 100,000 high-end GPUs to overcome this bottleneck. The industry believes OpenAI needs Nvidia’s top GPUs like H100 or B200 to address the shortage. Meanwhile, the introduction of a Solana meme coin, which achieved a $30 million market cap, highlights the intertwining of AI and cryptocurrency trends. Discussions have arisen about using decentralized infrastructural networks like DePIN to fill the computational gap. Despite challenges, OpenAI plans to release ’Image Generation V2’, signaling ongoing efforts in AI art despite growing operational costs projected to lead to significant financial losses by 2026.