In the rapidly evolving world of AI, few moments have tested the resilience of tech companies quite like the viral explosion triggered by OpenAI’s release of Studio Ghibli-style image generation. In a candid interview with Bloomberg Originals, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman peeled back the curtain on what it truly takes to navigate such a digital stampede.
“This level of virality is an unusual thing,” he said. “This last week, I don’t think this has happened in the history of tech to any company before. I’ve seen viral moments, but I have never seen anyone have to deal with an influx of usage like this.” That influx translated into more than a million new users within hours — a growth rate that, even in the fast-moving tech world, is virtually unheard of.
While such explosive interest might appear to be a dream scenario for any company, it comes with real logistical headaches. Altman explained that generating high-quality images through AI is a computationally demanding process, requiring vast GPU resources. To manage the sudden load, OpenAI had to temporarily slow down other features and reallocate computing power away from ongoing research projects. It was a clear reminder that even the most cutting-edge AI firms must contend with finite infrastructure.
“It’s not like we have hundreds of thousands of GPUs sitting around spinning idly,” Altman remarked, cutting through any assumptions that OpenAI operates on unlimited cloud capacity. His tone underscored a broader point, the delicate balancing act of delivering seamless AI experiences while continuing to build, improve, and innovate behind the scenes.
As someone who has steered OpenAI through historic milestones, Altman’s leadership reflects both ambition and realism. Faced with a flood of user demand, he made tough operational calls not for growth at all costs, but to preserve quality and ensure stability. His team, it seems, was forced to confront the hard truth of scale: when AI breaks through into the mainstream, it tests every layer of the system.
His forward-thinking philosophy was captured in one of the interview’s most telling quotes: “More compute means we can give you more AI.” In that simple statement, Altman drew a direct line between hardware investment and the pace of innovation. It’s a sentiment shared across the tech industry, where rising interest in generative AI has led to soaring demand for data centers, GPUs, and specialized chips, all needed to fuel increasingly sophisticated models.
