Punch, the baby macaque abandoned by his mother, is the breakout star of 2026. The internet has come together to swoon and cry over videos of Punch clinging to his Ikea orangutan plushie, a stand-in for his absent mother.
As Punch’s beloved Ikea plushie became his emotional support animal, he became the world’s emotional support animal. And, for now, the story seems to have a happy ending. As Punch grows up, the macaques at the Ichikawa City Zoo in Japan are accepting him as one of their own.
Every day, more videos of Punch the monkey go viral. Unfortunately for our friend Punch, the baby macaque has also become the unwitting star of many AI videos.
As Mashable has documented, the latest AI video models can create incredibly lifelike videos, and even experts can struggle to definitively identify AI-generated videos. In this particular case, the potential for misinformation and dehumanizing deepfakes is blessedly low, but no one likes to feel tricked.
Support authors and subscribe to content
This is premium stuff. Subscribe to read the entire article.
