Kyra Kupetsky, who created and voices the animated series Chikn Nuggit, said on 5 March that she was leaving BuzzFeed because the company wants the show's material put into generative AI for an unnamed project. She announced the exit on the series' own social accounts and said she was heartbroken.
By her account, the decision came from corporate management and the whole animation team opposed it. She said no episode now online, and none in the finished batch still to air, contains AI, and that non-disclosure agreements stop the team describing the other project.
Chikn Nuggit, which she has led since 2020, has more than nine million followers and billions of views on TikTok, YouTube and Instagram. Her exit leaves open who will voice the lead character, and Bubbleblabber said BuzzFeed had not commented.
Kupetsky asked fans not to turn on the staff who remain, saying they did not choose the mandate either, and plans to keep working independently, pointing fans to her personal account. Many in animation have welcomed her move as a stand for artists' rights, Bubbleblabber wrote, placing it in the line of disputes that followed the 2023 SAG-AFTRA and WGA strikes over AI protections.
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