Elon Musk is clearly looking to improve his public image after confirming his plans to bring back the beloved app Vine.
After leaving the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) and having a very public dispute with Donald Trump, the Tesla founder seems to be focusing back on the world of technology with his latest update.
For those of you Gen Z'ers who aren't old enough to remember Vine, it was arguably the early version of TikTok, featuring a wide variety of short-form videos where users would sing, dance or do comedic skits.
It helped introduce the world to the likes of Shawn Mendes, King Bach and Jake Paul, and anyone of a certain age will probably still regularly quote things like 'stop I could have dropped my croissant', 'look at all these chickens' or 'they were roommates'.
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Although the internet is undoubtedly a less funny place these days, it seems as if Musk wants to restore it to its glory days by bringing back the iconic video platform as a rival to TikTok and Instagram reels.
However, in an update, he's suggested that some controversial technology is set to play a major part.
On X, he wrote: "We’re bringing back Vine, but in AI form." Oh Elon, I can't believe you've done this.
It could be a disaster, given Musk's most recent AI experiment Grok has been used to post antisemitic rants and make sexualised images of women.
Given how far AI videos have come in recent years, with Will Smith's disturbing spaghetti eating a thing of the past, it may soon well be that we can no longer discern between real life and AI. I'll graciously admit that the video of the kangaroo being denied boarding at an airport did make me emotional until I realised it was AI-generated.
The news has split opinion on X, with some applauding the billionaire's update, whereas others aren't too impressed with the idea of watching more AI that's almost sure to rot our brains.
One said: "So a bunch of short ai generated clips to keep people sucked into their phones even more."
Another commented: "Vine isn't Vine without human creativity. AI doesn't create anything new."
Others were more positive however.
One wrote: "Could be interesting to see what AI comes up with and evolves into."
Another said: "That's what I've been waiting for."
Say whatever you will about AI, there's no way it's going to come up with anything as genius as the kid who called it hurricane tortilla.
Topics: AI, Elon Musk, Social Media, TikTok, Gen Z
James Moorhouse