Sony Takes Aim at Studio Ghibli AI Slop, Developing Tool to Stop Copyright Infringing Content and Compensate Original Creators

Sony has trained a “Protective AI” model on content from Studio Ghibli films in order to create a tool that knows to avoid generating copyright-infringing images, videos and music.

As reported by The Nikkei (and spotted by Automaton), the project is in development by Sony AI, the Japanese electronics giant’s AI research and development-focused division. Protective AI’s purpose is to stop the generation of unauthorized imitations of copyrighted material, even through indirect prompts by a user.

So, to train the tool on what it shouldn’t generate, Sony has fed it copyrighted content — those Studio Ghibli movies — so it knows what to avoid. Of course, Studio Ghibli-style AI images are commonly seen online, with AI tools now able to easily replicate the artstyle of the famous Princess Monoke and Spirited Away animation house. Open AI founder Sam Altman even currently has a Ghibli-style profile pic on X. But could this era soon be over?

It’s been 24 hours since OpenAI unexpectedly shook the AI image world with 4o image generation.

Here are the 14 most mindblowing examples so far (100% AI-generated):

1. Studio ghibli style memespic.twitter.com/E38mBnPnQh

— Barsee 🐶 (@heyBarsee) March 26, 2025

Apparently, Protective AI will also open up pathways for original creators and rights holders to be financially compensated when their work contributes to AI-generated content. However, this new tool is still at the research and development stage, and Sony has yet to decide how they will utilize it within the company.

As the Sony Group covers a huge library of games, music, movies and increasingly anime (through its strategic partnership with Kadokawa), Protective AI could potentially help protect the rights of a large number of creators and copyright holders. According to Sony AI’s homepage, they believe that “AI should be developed and deployed in a responsible, fair and transparent way,” and Protective AI seems to be part of these endeavors.

Sony AI has previously mentioned its efforts to protect original creators’ rights, specifically when it comes to music: “Sony AI’s researchers are working to develop the blueprints for AI technologies that can use the unique power of artificial intelligence to help artists and rights holders understand when and how their work appears in generated music, and enable the creation of tools that support attribution and protection at scale.”

So far this year, the Sony Group has filed patents for other AI technologies, including an AI assist feature that could potentially play your PlayStation games for you when you get stuck and a system for generating AI podcasts featuring the voices of your favorite game characters.

Verity Townsend is a Japan-based freelance writer who previously served as editor, contributor and translator for the game news site Automaton West. She has also written about Japanese culture and movies for various publications.