Stephen Colbert took a moment during his “Late Show” monologue Thursday evening to praise his fellow comedians in the Paramount family, highlighting the “South Park” season premiere’s use of AI-generated footage that depicted President Trump stripping nude in the desert.
Colbert introduced the clip by highlighting Trump’s recent signing of an AI-related executive order, which states that the federal government “should be hesitant to regulate AI models in the private marketplace.”
“I completely agree with him on this one, because, if the government interfered with private AI, innovators at ‘South Park’ wouldn’t be able to make important videos like this one,” Colbert said. The “South Park” footage played, drawing applause from the crowd. “That is an important message of hope for our times.”
On Wednesday, Trump signed an executive order aimed at preventing “woke AI in the federal government.” The order directs agency heads to procure “only large language models (LLMs) that adhere to ‘Unbiased AI Principles’ defined in the order as “truth-seeking and ideological neutrality.”
Hours later, the “South Park” Season 27 premiere put Trump in its crosshairs, depicting the president flapping around an uncensored micro-penis, snuggling up to Satan in bed and threatening to sue anyone who disagrees with his policies. In a departure from the show’s usual animated style, the episode concluded with the AI-generated deepfake.
The episode drew a response from the White House: “This show hasn’t been relevant for over 20 years and is hanging on by a thread with uninspired ideas in a desperate attempt for attention.”
“South Park” creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone extended their overall deal at Paramount ahead of the premiere, with an order for 50 new episodes over the next five years. The agreement has been reported to be valued at $1.5 billion.