According to Brad Lightcap, who oversees day-to-day operations and global deployment at OpenAI, over 130 million users have generated more than 700 million images since the upgraded image generator launched in ChatGPT on March 25.

“[W]e appreciate your patience as we try to serve everyone,” Lightcap wrote in a post on X on Thursday. “[The] team continues to work around the clock.”

Lightcap added that India is now the fastest-growing ChatGPT market.

OpenAI’s new image generator, which launched for all ChatGPT users earlier this week, went viral for its controversial ability to create realistic Ghibli-style photos. It’s been a mixed blessing for OpenAI, leading to millions of new signups for ChatGPT while also greatly straining the company’s capacity.

According to CEO Sam Altman, the popularity of the image generator has led to product delays and temporarily degraded services as OpenAI works to scale up infrastructure to meet demand.