“Top tier jester”: Merriam-Webster trolls social media with “AI rollout”

Merriam-Webster pulled off a rare internet feat this week: making dictionaries go viral.

What was Merriam-Webster’s big “AI” announcement?

The post on X read, “We are thrilled to announce that our NEW Large Language Model will be released on 11.18.25.” Purple gradients, floating buzzwords, and dramatic narration sold the illusion that it was a genuine collaboration with an LLM.

The male voice-over in the video sounded robotic, similar to those generated by AI. He said, “It is the dawn of the AI era, and we are proud to introduce our latest large language model. This LLM has over 217,000 rigorously defined parameters. It never hallucinates. It does not require a data center and uses no electricity. It’s a powerful tool that will change how you communicate forever.”

However, the twist came halfway through when the video revealed a rotating 3D image of the 12th edition Merriam-Webster dictionary. A woman’s voiceover drove the point home: “There’s artificial intelligence and then there’s actual intelligence.”

In the company’s press release on Sept. 25, 2025, it shared that there were some 5,000 new words added to this most recent edition of the dictionary that has been around since the late 1800s.

“[T]he Twelfth Edition features over 5,000 new words (including cold brew, farm-to-table, rizz, and dad bod), 1,000 new phrases and idioms, enhanced entries for the top lookups, and more than 20,000 additional usage examples.”

There were plenty of viewers who clicked away before the reveal, which led to some expected confusion. The reply that Merriam-Webster noticed, however, was X user Megan (@dxxzaii), who asked, “Where is the data stored then?”

The dictionary’s account responded cheekily, “On pages made of paper and then hopefully your brain.”

The reply quickly gained traction as people responded and reposted it. Moreover, when Megan later poked fun at themselves by calling their own question idiotic, Merriam-Webster defended them, saying, “Don’t talk about our friend Megan like that. You’re smart.”

Reactions across X showed appreciation for the video’s tone. @destiny_thememe wrote, “In a world of ai slop, be a merriam webster.” Meanwhile, @DamnDude030 called it, “a top tier jester that boiled our blood just [right].”

Additionally, Merriam-Webster stayed active in the thread, liking comments and replying with humor. To one user who posted a joking meme in appreciation, the account said, “We tried to like this twice.”

“Top tier jester”: Merriam-Webster trolls social media with “AI rollout”

What was Merriam-Webster’s big “AI” announcement?

Social media reactions to the fake AI stunt