When you mix two of the internet’s biggest obsessions — cats and artificial intelligence — the result can be explosive. That’s exactly what happened this past weekend, when a video featuring felines performing Olympic-style acrobatics took over Instagram and TikTok. If you use either platform, chances are you’ve already seen — or someone has shared — these furry gymnasts pulling off gold-medal-worthy flips. This is how one of the most successful viral hits of the moment came to be.
With more than 300 million views and counting, the phenomenon has been dubbed the “Kitty Olympics.” Behind the viral clip is @pabloprompt, a psychologist from the Canary Islands who creates content using AI and already had a solid social media following. Still, even he was shocked by the impact: the video racked up 1.5 million views in just five hours. Today, it boasts nearly 70 million views on TikTok and 237 million on Instagram.
And it didn’t stop there. As with any viral sensation, imitations quickly followed. Under the hashtag “Olympics animals,” TikTok users began posting videos of giraffes, capybaras, dogs, camels, and even lions competing in made-up sports, many of which garnered millions of views themselves. A new trend was born.
While AI-generated videos are nothing new, very few achieve this level of virality. So what made this one different? It’s the realism and smoothness of the cats’ movements that truly captivate viewers. To pull it off, @pabloprompt used Hailuo 2, a new AI model released just days earlier, which promised significant improvements in physical realism — and clearly delivered.
In fact, while writing this article, we tried the free version of the tool to create our own “gymnast cats.” While our results didn’t match the original “Kitty Olympics,” they were still impressively realistic with just a few clicks.
As with much AI-generated content, this viral video has sparked questions about authorship. Although @pabloprompt published the video, the original idea came from another user, @fofrAI, who shared the initial prompt that inspired it. This reignites the debate over creativity and ownership in the age of artificial intelligence.
The controversy goes further: while some creators spend hours producing a few seconds of content, others — like Daniel Bitton — boast about generating up to ten videos in under 30 minutes, benefiting from algorithms that seem to favor quantity over effort.
Regardless of the creative controversy, the Olympic cats video triumphed because it’s entertaining and visually striking. But not all AI-generated content is this charming.
A few months ago, social media was flooded with what’s now known as “AI Slop” — unsettling and low-quality AI videos that managed to game TikTok and Instagram’s recommendation algorithms. By overwhelming the platforms, they ended up being shown to huge audiences.
This also raises concerns about misinformation. Recently, during the escalation of the conflict between Iran and Israel, AI-generated images circulated online as if they were real. In response, platforms like TikTok have begun labeling AI-generated content to help users better understand what they’re seeing.
