Creator Blasts AI Deal for Beloved Character

Loryn Brantz, the creator of the beloved character Cuppy from The Good Advice Cupcake, has publicly condemned BuzzFeed for selling the character to Amazon. Brantz revealed her distress and disgust over the decision, stating that BuzzFeed is using her creation for an AI-generated animated series. She claims that during her tenure at BuzzFeed, she was frequently "taken advantage of and lied to" and was assured her input would be sought for any character adaptations.

Brantz described the sale as a betrayal, likening the AI adaptation to turning her character into a "soulless AI puppet." She recounted pleading with BuzzFeed CEO Jonah Peretti not to proceed with the deal, but was instead asked to sign a non-disclosure agreement. Amazon announced that Cupcake & Friends, featuring Cuppy, will be one of three projects utilizing its Project Nara platform, a tool leveraging AI for content creation.