Midjourney, a popular AI-powered image generator, has ended its free trial due to “extraordinary demand and trial abuse”, CEO David Holz said in a message posted on Discord, reports The Washington Post.

The abuse was allegedly related to people creating fake accounts to get free images, which caused a load on the service for paid users. Holz and the company have tried to address the abuse problem with security patches but to no avail.

The CEO said the company is still trying to figure out how to bring back the free trials, but they will likely have more restrictions. Holz denied that the closure of free access is related to the generated by Midjourney pictures of the Pope in a down jacket and Donald Trump being detained by the police that went viral.

Holz hinted that the current ban on Midjourney’s free trial is a form of revenue protection, and the company wants users to switch to a paid subscription rather than another free generator version.