A single image sparked a global trend and it all started with tech engineer Grant Slatton. The now-viral Ghibli-inspired artwork he posted on X (formerly Twitter) featured a transformed photo of himself, his wife, and their corgi. Created using OpenAI’s latest image-generation feature, it resembled a frame straight out of a Studio Ghibli film.
Slatton posted the photo on March 26, 2025, shortly after OpenAI released the new feature. His Facebook post, captioned, “Tremendous alpha right now in sending your wife photos of y’all converted to Studio Ghibli anime,” went viral very quickly online, collecting nearly 50 million views. It encouraged countless others to do the same, making their own Ghibli-style portraits.
As the trend gained momentum, OpenAI servers started to buckle under the load. CEO Sam Altman even requested users to go slower. Finally, ChatGPT had to start limiting daily image generation because of the massive demand.
Say hello to Grant Slatton
While Slatton is currently well known as the figure behind the Ghibli image phenomenon, he has been active in the technology sector for years. He is a founding engineer at Row Zero, a venture aimed at constructing the world’s fastest spreadsheet. Before that, he was a senior engineer at Amazon Web Services (AWS), where he was involved in designing high-performance storage nodes for the gigantic cloud infrastructure of AWS.
In addition to his engineering, Slatton has been a leader in AI research, exploring machine learning, software design, and cloud computing.His blog features everything from technocapitalism to large language models and software development.
Beyond the world of tech, Slatton is a fan of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and cherishes time with family particularly his wife and their dog, who also feature in the now-famous Ghibli-style portrait.
Debate About AI and Art
Slatton’s viral blog delighted all, but it also reopened discussion on the role of AI in creativity. Studio Ghibli, in its laboriously drawn, emotionally expressive animation, is representative of traditional artistry. This has provoked debate over whether AI-created copies devalue the originality of such pieces.
The renowned Ghibli co-founder Hayao Miyazaki has long publicly criticized AI in artwork, even calling it “an insult to life itself” at one point. With ever more advanced and available AI software on the market, his kind of voice highlights the divide between technological advancement and artistic virtue.
In spite of the criticism, Grant Slatton’s innovative blend of technical skill and narrative certainly made the trend feasible that enthralled the masses — blending technology and narrative in a new and distinct way.