AI cat videos are taking over TikTok and Billie Eilish is at the heart of this trend. Here is what you need to know about the viral craze.
On TikTok, the audio paired with any given video is just as important as what’s seen on screen. In the case of a new trend involving AI-generated images of cats, singer Billie Eilish has found herself at the center of the new uptick in feline content.
Social media is no stranger to animal content, with cat and dog videos often taking over the likes of TikTok and Instagram and other animals such as sharks and whale sightings often going viral online.
However, while animal-related, the latest animal trend to take over TikTok is also directly connected to AI-generated images and Billie Eilish. Yes, you did read that correctly.
New AI cat TikTok trend & Billie Eilish connection explained
All across TikTok, users have been sharing videos of AI-generated cats, some sporting cute clothing items and cute-looking aesthetics, and even reimagining famous pop culture cats such as Garfield. At the time of writing, the AI-generated cat tag has over 140 million videos included.
Though this new wave of cat content sets itself apart thanks to a remixed version of Billie Eilish’s Oscar-winning song “What Was I Made For?”
The lyrics to the song have been wholly scrapped, and instead, the tune is paired with different “meows” that align with the tune of the music. Most notably, Rihanna’s “Diamonds” and Sia’s “Unstoppable” have received similar meow treatment but not quite on the same scale as Eilish’s 2023 hit.
https://www.tiktok.com/@mpwild/photo/7327435946608184609?embed_source=121374463%2C121451205%2C121439635%2C121433650%2C121404359%2C121351166%2C121331973%2C120811592%2C120810756%3Bnull%3Bembed_masking&refer=embed&referer_url=www.dailydot.com%2Fpop-culture%2Fai-cat-stories-what-was-i-made-for-billie-eilish%2F&referer_video_id=7359552125262662945
Of all the AI-generated cats featured in this new trend, the most popular figure, nicknamed“Chubby”, has generated millions of views on the app across multiple videos via the account mpwild.
In these videos, Chubby and his “son” Chubby Jr. experience homelessness and house fires, and, in one video, even survived a pigeon kidnapping.
The first video posted by mpwild has garnered over 50 million views, and each subsequent post has generated millions of views, one even hitting the 80 million views mark.
Furthermore, the cat remix audio of “What Aas I Made For” has been used in over 930,000 individual videos on TikTok, with this number only likely to grow in the coming months.