VENTURA, Cali. — In what experts are calling the first confirmed case of canine technological displacement, viral skateboarding dog Brutus the Bulldog Beefcake reportedly lost all of his sponsorship deals after an AI-generated video of a skateboarding dog went viral on TikTok earlier this week, local skatepark goers report.
“This is what everyone was warned about. Brutus has been riding a customized longboard along the Ventura boardwalk to the delight of tourists and internet viewers since 2020,” said Brutus’s owner, Mark Delaney, staring at a now-canceled Venmo payment from Mellow Mutt, a CBD dog treat company. “First it was graphic designers. Then it was copywriters. Now it’s skateboarding dogs. AI is taking everyone’s jobs. Brutus spent years learning to push off with his back paw, and now some loser in the midwest can type ‘dog does sick kickflip in space’ and it gets a million views and a Landyachtz sponsorship.”
AI “artist” and creator of the @NeuroPup_Official account Dylan Krauss disagrees.
“Look, the market decides what it wants and right now it wants hyper-realistic AI clips of a digitally rendered golden retriever landing 900-degree spins over flaming ramps,” said Krauss, gesturing toward a laptop covered in stickers reading “DISRUPT EVERYTHING.” “AI dogs can do things real dogs just can’t, skateboard-wise. Like Godzilla Flip over a Tesla while Elon Musk breakdances in the background. I just made one of a German Shepherd grinding a rail made of lightning. I did that in like three minutes. It’s efficient. It doesn’t get distracted by seagulls or stop to pee mid-shoot.”
According to Professor Naomi Stevens, Chair of New Media Studies at Cal Tech, Brutus’ unemployment represents a broader cultural shift.
“AI is not just replacing labor, it is replacing plausibility. Everyone just assumes anything they see on Reddit now is AI anyway, so they don’t want to see mundane practicality,” Stevens explained. “Memes used to be grounded in something real, like a displeased cat or a dog who could kind of skateboard. Now the algorithm rewards spectacle. The more impossible the trick, the more engagement. Authenticity is no longer competitive.”
At press time, Delaney had Brutus surrendered to the local SPCA because there is no point in having a dog if they can’t trend on TikTok or bring in a six-figure brand deal.
