On March 5, Chikn Nuggit creator Kyra Kupetsky announced she was leaving the series due to BuzzFeed’s plans to use the series to train AI. Now, she has announced that she will no longer be leaving the series, as BuzzFeed has reversed its decision.
For the last week, Kupetsky has posted sporadic updates about talks with BuzzFeed “to keep this AI project away from Chikn.” Today, she posted a statement to the official Chikn Nuggit X account about the result of those talks, complete with an illustration of a happy Chikn Nuggit jumping with joy and surrounded by confetti.
WE DID IT!!!!
BuzzFeed has confirmed Chikn Nuggit will NOT be used for the AI supported project!
Thank you so much BuzzFeed for hearing us out and wanting the best for Chikn.
And thank you so unbelievably much to ALL OF YOU for the massive support on this as well as the understanding while we worked through it. I’m grateful the studio leadership heard us out and worked with us on a solution.
I will be staying on Chikn Nuggit at BuzzFeed to continue making the show as we intended!
“SO HAPPY TO SHARE THIS UPDATE!!!! ;0;;;;; Thank you to EVERYONE, wrote Kupetsky in a quote-post on her personal X account. “Chikn will remain AI free as it always has been!!! Happy to have all the crew safe and employed as well. It’s very scary in this landscape of animation job scarcity.”
This is a very happy ending to a story that stirred up a lot of controversy following Kupetsky’s initial announcement.
Chikn Nuggit follows the adventures of the eponymous golden retriever-basset hound mix with distinctly long ears and very large eyes, voiced by Kupetsky. It stands out for its adorable art style and character designs, with shorts akin to animated comic panels where character dialogue appears in speech bubbles. Each short lasts approximately 15-60 seconds.
