The AI Cat Stories, often paired with the melancholic 'Sad Meow Meow' song, emerged as a viral phenomenon on platforms like TikTok and Instagram in 2024. These memes utilize advanced AI video generators to create photorealistic but absurdly tragic situations involving cats—such as a kitten selling matches in the snow or a cat losing its home. The trend relies heavily on the emotional juxtaposition of cute, big-eyed cats experiencing extreme human-like hardship, underscored by high-pitched, sobbing vocalizations. It has become a staple of 'brainrot' culture and emotional baiting, where users create increasingly elaborate and surreal narratives to evoke sympathy or irony through the lens of artificial intelligence.