Sabrina Carpenter is helping usher in the return of The Muppet Show, and she’s doing it with plenty of charm alongside one of television’s most beloved divas, Miss Piggy. 

The pop star appears in the very first teaser for the upcoming special, which made its debut during Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve with Ryan Seacrest, instantly setting the tone for a playful and star-filled revival.

In the teaser, Carpenter is fully game for the Muppets’ trademark chaos, sharing the screen, and even matching outfits, with Miss Piggy. 

One standout moment shows the Espresso singer praising Miss Piggy as an icon, a compliment the Muppet legend accepts with flair. 

“You’re too sweet. Go on,” Miss Piggy replies, perfectly in character. The exchange highlights the easy chemistry between the two and gives fans a taste of the humor the special promises to deliver.

Carpenter’s appearance also feels like a fun continuation of her recent onstage interaction with Miss Piggy during the final stop of her Short n’ Sweet Tour in Los Angeles. 

At that show, Carpenter jokingly “arrested” Miss Piggy before performing Juno. 

Addressing the crowd, she said, “You guys are so beautiful it should be a crime,” before spotting Miss Piggy and Bobo the Bear and adding, “Like you, gorgeous. I’d know that face anywhere!” 

When asked if she was enjoying the concert, Miss Piggy quipped, “I’m loving it! I mean, I do have a few notes. I’ll share them with you after the show.” 

Bobo the Bear then stepped in with mock authority, telling her, “Let’s go, Pig… Tell it to the judge, sister.”

The teaser also features Seth Rogen, who appears genuinely thrilled to be part of the Muppet universe. 

In a brief exchange with Fozzie Bear, Rogen admits, “It’s always been a dream of mine to be here,” prompting Fozzie’s classic punchline response.

With familiar faces, lighthearted humour, and celebrity guests clearly enjoying the moment, The Muppet Show aims to blend nostalgia with fresh energy. 

The special is set to premiere on ABC and Disney+ on Wednesday, Feb. 4, giving fans old and new another reason to celebrate the timeless appeal of the Muppets.

Elon Musk’s AI chatbot, Grok, has come under fire after users were able to generate illegal images of minors on the social media platform X (formerly known as Twitter).

The AI, developed by Musk’s company xAI, reportedly generated such images due to “laps in safeguards” as posted from Grok on Friday, January 2.

Users shared screenshots online where Grok’s public media tab was filled with sexualized depictions of minors in minimal clothing. xAI noted that child sexual abuse material (CSAM) is illegal and prohibited and stressed that it is “urgently fixing” the system to prevent similar incidents.

Grok stated, “These are isolated cases, but we recognize lapses and are working to block such requests entirely.”

The incident has drawn international attention. French authorities reported the images to prosecutors and referred the matter to the media regulator, Arcom, over possible breaches of the EU Digital Services Act.

Last year, Grok was part of repeated controversies, including posting antisemitic content and other offensive materials, directly raising questions about its safety guardrails. 

A new study conducted by the video-editing company Kapwing found that more than one in five videos recommended to new YouTube users are “AI slop.”

AI slop, also known simply as slop, refers to digital content created by generative artificial intelligence, specifically showcasing low effort and cheap quality content. There’s an overwhelming volume of production of these AI videos, which are designed to farm views and advertising revenue.

In the study, Kapwign assessed 15,000 of YouTube’s most popular channels, including the top 100 channels in every country and found that 278 channels were constituted entirely of AI slop.

Together, these channels have accumulated more than 63 billion views and 221 million subscribers. Leveraging this audience, the channels generated an estimated $117 million (£90 million) annually.

To measure how content went viral on the platform, researchers created a fresh YouTube account without any personal preferences or interests. It was found that out of the first 500 recommended videos, 104 were entirely AI slop, while roughly one-third fell into a broader category of brainrot content, which is also another form of low-quality and meaningless AI-generated content.

These findings indicate a rapidly growing ecosystem of algorithm-driven content spreading across social media platforms, including YouTube.

The Guardian reported earlier this year that around 10% of YouTube’s fastest-growing channels are entirely based on AI slop, despite the platform’s efforts to curb “inauthentic content.”

Interestingly, many of the largest AI slop channels attract global audiences. In Spain, trending AI channels gained 20 million followers while similar channels with millions of subscribers exist in the United States, Egypt, Brazil, and India.

Analysts state that the popularity of AI slop stems from its absurdity, lack of narrative complexity, and algorithm amplification. While social media platforms say they prioritise quality content, researchers argue that the reach of these AI slop channels indicates how effectively they exploit recommendation systems and are deeply embedded in the modern attention economy.