AI-generated “brainrot” memes—absurd, highly shareable characters and videos that spread rapidly across social platforms. Characters such as Tung Tung Tung Sahur and other AI-generated figures have become part of a new internet culture in which memes can be created, remixed and replicated at extraordinary speed. The phenomenon demonstrates how generative AI has lowered the barrier to creating visually distinctive characters and short-form entertainment.
But the popularity of these characters is creating a difficult question around who actually owns an AI-generated meme. Human creators may develop the concept, choose prompts, edit outputs and build an audience around a character, while AI systems generate much of the final visual material. Copyright law generally gives stronger protection to human creative expression than to material produced entirely by machines, creating uncertainty for creators who believe their AI-assisted characters have become valuable intellectual property.
The problem becomes even more complicated because AI meme culture is inherently remix-oriented. A character can be copied, modified, combined with another meme and turned into new videos within hours. A creator may have little practical ability to control how the character is reused, particularly when the original image itself contains relatively little conventional human-authored expression. At the same time, successful characters can generate significant attention and commercial value, creating incentives for creators to claim ownership and challenge unauthorized uses.
The broader significance is that AI is changing not only how memes are produced, but how internet culture creates and distributes intellectual property. Traditional copyright systems were designed around identifiable human authors creating relatively stable works; AI-driven meme culture produces rapidly evolving characters that can be copied and transformed almost instantly. The “brainrot” phenomenon therefore offers a glimpse of a larger challenge ahead: determining what counts as human creativity, who owns AI-assisted creations, and how ownership can be enforced when culture moves faster than copyright law.
