Italian Brain Rot: AI-Generated Culture, Platform Economics, & the Future of Digital Media

If you have a kid in the family, you might have noticed a very weird trend, of a bunch of AI-generated characters with weird, Italian-sounding names.

And as you can imagine, as an Italian, that attracted even more my attention,

Italian brain rot represents the first major example of AI-native folklore that has evolved into a multi-billion-dollar cultural and economic phenomenon.

Emerging in early 2025, this surrealist internet meme demonstrates how AI democratization, platform stickiness, and community-driven creativity are reshaping media production, intellectual property, and digital economics.

This isn’t just a meme; this is a tech story that crosses media, AI creativity, decentralized distribution, and monetization at scale.

Let me show you why!