ChatGPT maker, OpenAI has restricted access to video generation for its new Sora users as the company continues to struggle with capacity as a result of the viral image generation tool the firm introduced last week.

The company introduced a new update to its ChatGPT, which spurred a spate of Studio Ghibli-style images flooding the internet as users scrambled to sample the new image generation tool, a trend which the company said is “melting GPUs.”

OpenAI sacrifices new Sora users

Following this update, OpenAI has openly admitted that its team was overwhelmed by the demand for the feature. As a result, the company on Monday disabled its video generation feature for new users of its suite of generative AI media tools – Sora.

“Were currently experiencing heavy traffic and have temporarily disabled Sora video generation for new accounts.”

OpenAI.

According to the AI startup, the restrictions only affect video capabilities, new users can still create pictures through the service.

“If you’ve never logged into Sora before, you can still generate images with Sora,” added OpenAI on the company’s support pages.

The level of demand becomes clear with the startup’s chief executive officer, Sam Altman’s remarks that ChatGPT has gained more than a million new users “in the last hour.”

According to the Decoder, although there are limitations for new accounts, the AI startup has actually widened access for existing users. For instance, GPT Plus, Team, and Enterprise subscribers can now generate unlimited videos without spending credits, marking a significant shift in how the company offers video generation capabilities.

OpenAI is overwhelmed from all angles

The new image generation update ChatGPT came amid fanfare as well as controversy due to its capability to recreate styles like Japanese Studio Ghibli’s hand-drawn animation. Studio Ghibli is a Japanese animation film studio which was founded by Miyazaki Hayao, Takahata Isao, and Suzuki Toshio in 1985, and is known for its high-quality film making with hand-drawn animation and rich storytelling.

It has created several films and some of the notable animated productions include Neighbor Totoro, Spirited Away, Howl’s moving Castle, Kiki’s Delivery Service, and Princess Mononoke.

Over the weekend, after the launch of ChatGPT’s image generation update, OpenAI admitted that the demand was overwhelming for the company and its team.

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman revealed in a post on the X platform that the company “hasn’t been able to catch up,” since the launch of the feature, and that staff at the startup had worked late nights and through the weekend to “keep the service up.”

He also called on users to take a break from the trend of creating the Ghibli-style images that were flooding the internet, as this was straining the system and the team.

“Can yall please chill on generating images, this is insane our team needs sleep,” said Altman, adding in another post how demand for the service was taking a huge toll on the team.

“We just haven’t been able to catch up since launch so people are still working to keep the service up biblical demand, I have never seen anything like that,” said Altman in another post on the X platform.

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