Japan wants OpenAI to stop ripping off manga and anime

Japan’s government is dialing up the heat on OpenAI, formally asking it to stop ripping off Japanese artwork, according to ITMedia and reported by IGN. The company has been in copyright hell after the launch of its social video app Sora, which users swiftly filled with questionable AI-generated material.

Minoru Kiuchi, whose many Japanese ministerial positions include leading on intellectual property strategy (he also leads the “cool Japan strategy”), chastised OpenAI for copyright infringement last week. He said Japanese artforms like manga and anime are “irreplaceable treasures” and that the Cabinet Office had formally requested OpenAI to stop infringing behavior.

It’s the latest blow for the American company as it fights backlash to its now-abandoned opt-out policy for copyright holders on Sora. Japanese art is a particularly sensitive point. CEO Sam Altman has acknowledged OpenAI’s debt to “the remarkable creative output of Japan.” Its image generator previously unleashed a tsunami of Studio Ghibli-inspired images.