Coke Is Reportedly Releasing a ‘Futuristic’ New Flavor: Coca-Cola Y3000

Regardless of your thoughts on AI (is it a helpful on-the-job assistant or the thing that eventually gets the nuclear codes and kills us all—only time will tell!), I think there is one thing we can all agree on: AI does not have a tongue. That’s because it doesn’t have a body, see? No taste buds for tasting. No gullet for swallowing. All the same, Coca-Cola has reportedly tapped AI to help create a “futuristic” new flavor that’s coming down the pike: Coca-Cola Y3000.

Another new Coke flavor? From that tastes like the future? Are we sure we want to know what the future tastes like?

Even though most of the earth’s landmasses will surely be underwater by the year 3000, Coca-Cola is said to be taking inspiration from the distant future for the latest addition to its Coca-Cola Creations lineup. Since 2022, Coca-Cola has released seven limited edition Coca-Cola Creations flavors, each more vague and conceptual than the last. It all started with Coca-Cola Starlight, which was “inspired by space” but tasted like raspberries. Or s’mores. Or cotton candy. No one could really put a finger on it. Most recently, the soda giant launched the League of Legends-inspired Coca-Cola Ultimate. So, what does a multiplayer online battle arena game taste like? Even our professional taste testers couldn’t quite figure it out (the best they could do was Roy Rogers meets watermelon soda meets Hawaiian Punch). So while Coca-Cola Y3000 should probably taste like seawater/tears and microplastics, it will more likely taste like passion fruit but if it was Kool Aid or a cupcake filled with children’s chewable vitamins. Just riffin’ here.

Coca-Cola has yet to discuss the details of this purported new flavor, but images of the packaging started making the rounds online last week. A post from Instagram snack account CandyHunting indicates that Coca-Cola Y3000 will come in both regular and zero sugar versions—and the description printed on the label simply says “futuristic flavored.” There’s no release date yet, but some sites have speculated the new Creations creation will hit stores in mid September. In the meantime, you can guzzle those last few bottles of Coca-Cola Ultimate while you feverishly coax ChatGPT into telling you what AI thinks soda should taste like.