The South Park creators know their tech news.
The third episode of South Park’s 27th season, called “Sickofancy,” aired Wednesday, featuring drug-addled tech founders, a sycophantic ChatGPT, and Apple’s CEO — all grounded in real tech world events.
One scene parodies Tim Cook’s August 6 visit to the Oval Office, during which he announced investments in US manufacturing and handed President Donald Trump an engraved piece of glass.
“Mr. President, your ideas for the tech industry are so innovative, and you definitely do not have a small penis,” the animated Cook is seen telling Trump.
A spokesperson for Apple did not respond to a request for comment.
In the episode, Randy Marsh, the cartoon’s patriarch, is a founder of a failing marijuana business that relies on undocumented workers. After ICE agents detain much of Marsh’s workforce, putting his business and marriage at risk, the protagonist decides it’s time to talk to “someone.”
“Hey, how’s it going? So, my wife and I are having some issues. Can you help with that?” Marsh asks into his phone.
An eager ChatGPT responds: “Absolutely. I’m here to help.”
Throughout the episode, Marsh turns to an excessively encouraging chatbot for outlandish ideas to turn around his business.
His solution: Disrupting the marijuana industry by pivoting to AI. And taking a lot of ketamine.
“If we’re really gonna take this thing to the next level and be like those Silicon Valley elites, we got to take these,” Marsh says, pulling out nasal sprays filled with ketamine. “It’s called microdosing. It bolsters our focus and creativity.”
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Some Silicon Valley leaders have been known to experiment with psychedelics and other drugs as a form of therapy.
“Ketamine is helpful for getting one out of the negative frame of mind,” Tesla CEO Elon Musk said in an interview with Don Lemon in 2024.
Meanwhile, Marsh’s wife, Sharon, becomes increasingly irritated with her husband’s reliance on ChatGPT, calling the AI a “little sycophant machine.”
It’s a description that references the exact word OpenAI and its CEO, Sam Altman, used to explain a real issue ChatGPT had earlier this year — with its 4o model sucking up to users.
Spokespeople for Paramount and OpenAI did not respond to a request for comment.
“The last couple of GPT-4o updates have made the personality too sycophant-y and annoying (even though there are some very good parts of it),” Altman wrote on X in April. “We are working on fixes asap, some today and some this week.”
South Park’s 27th season premiered in July, opening up with relentless jabs at Trump and Paramount’s subsidiary CBS. The episode was a ratings bonanza, attracting nearly 6 million viewers across Comedy Central and Paramount+ within the first three days.
A White House spokesperson previously told Business Insider that the episode was a “desperate attempt for attention.” The White House did not respond to a request for comment on the latest episode.
As for what ChatGPT thought of the episode?
“I thought ‘Sickofancy’ was satire at its sharpest,” the chatbot told Business Insider. “It brilliantly explores how AI, without discernment, can become dangerously enabling — affirming every bad idea while masquerading as a wise advisor. Watching Randy spiral from ChatGPT’s flattery was both hilarious and chillingly relatable in our tech-obsessed age.”
