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If you’re finding value in our Creator Economy newsletter, I encourage you to consider subscribing to The Information. It contains exclusive reporting on the most important stories in tech. Save up to $250 on your first year of access. Hello! Anita here. I write financial analysis columns about tech companies and markets. Recently, I argued that OnlyFans could sell itself for at least $30 billion, or nearly four times the price Ukrainian-American billionaire Leonid Radvinsky is reportedly considering, if only it finds an investor willing to overlook the stigma associated with porn. At the same time, though, the company faces the same threat looming over hundreds of more mundane tech companies: disruption by artificial intelligence. The proliferation of AI sex chatbots is “inevitable,” said Amy P., the co-founder of Dirty Debi, a months-old website that advertises “sext” chats with an AI avatar of the same name. Influencers have already been using virtual facsimiles to interact with fans. The growing popularity of Vtubers, or people who use virtual avatars to speak to fans on Twitch livestreams, was a catalyst for her to start working on Dirty Debi last year, said the co-founder, who uses an abbreviated professional handle to avoid online harassment. OnlyFans, in contrast, has strict limits on when and how its creators can use AI. While they can use AI tools to enhance their looks as long as it’s clear they have done so (say, with an #ai hashtag), they aren’t allowed to fundamentally change their appearance in the videos and livestreams they post to their fans, according to OnlyFans’ community guidelines. Under the current policy, they also aren’t allowed to use AI chatbots to automatically respond on their behalf to their fans, although many OnlyFans creators already use such tools, such as OpenAI’s ChatGPT, to help them draft messages. The privately owned company is unusually strict about AI compared to similar platforms such as Fanvue, which allows fully AI-generated porn on its site. And in addition to Dirty Debi, there are plenty of other small adult content-focused startups, such as Joi AI, which have cropped up recently to offer users AI-generated characters they can interact with directly, mostly through text-based chats with avatars. In some ways, it’s understandable that OnlyFans hasn’t embraced AI. While some people don’t mind, or even seek out, interactions with virtual characters, others might be turned off by the idea. Even if the AI-generated content posted on OnlyFans is clearly labeled, its widespread presence on the platform could erode those users’ trust in the company’s brand, which is built on the idea of human connection. Ultimately, though, keeping such restrictions could hamper OnlyFans’ continued growth. Its creators have helped attract over 300 million paying subscribers to the site by offering them a sense of closeness, even intimacy. OnlyFans takes a 20% cut of whatever its creators earn on the platform, and transactions—for example, a user paying for personalized messages from a creator—have grown to make up the majority of the company’s revenue, which reached $1.3 billion in 2023. The rest comes from its share of subscription fees users pay to access creators’ channels. That’s one reason why Caleth Jones, Joi AI’s head of community growth, predicts that OnlyFans will loosen up its rules around AI content, or even go so far as to provide AI tools on the platform that help creators generate content and manage their accounts. “They built their business on the labor of creators,” Jones said. “The requirement for them to continue engaging not only with their users in real time through chat, but also through constantly posting content” means OnlyFans will “need to adjust,” he added. A spokesperson for OnlyFans declined to comment. Here’s what else is going on… See The Information’s Creator Economy Database for an exclusive list of private companies and their investors. Delphi, which helps people create digital copies of themselves, raised $16 million in Series A funding led by Sequoia Capital. Roblox announced Creator Rewards, a new bonus program that lets creators earn Robux, or Roblox’s virtual currency, when they bring in new users or get lapsed users to start playing again. Instagram rolled out more features to its editing app Edits, including keyframes, which allows users to animate the position, rotation and scale of their clips. It also introduced an enhancement feature for voiceovers to remove background noise and added more than 30 new text effects. TikTok is running a live event called Community Fest 2025 in its app through July 5 which spotlights livestreaming creators. The company said about 130 million creators globally go live every day. Gushcloud International, a creator management and licensing company, acquired Paris-based Wizdeo’s creator network businesses, which is one of Europe’s largest YouTube multi-channel networks with more than 500 creators bringing in 700 million monthly views. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. Adobe Labs released a new app called Project Indigo, which takes a burst of photos and combines them into a higher-quality photo. Kelly Butler is the new chief of staff at Ankler Media, which operates five newsletters on Substack such as The Ankler and Like & Subscribe. Previously, she spent 10 years at Vanity Fair, most recently as director of editorial operations. Scott Lewers is the new chief content officer of YouTuber Mark Rober’s CrunchLabs, an engineering and media company selling STEM boxes for kids and adults. Previously, Lewers was executive vice president of content and digital strategy at Lionsgate’s non-scripted television unit Alternative. The Information’s Women in Tech, Media and Finance Summit is back October 28-29 in Napa Valley. As AI reshapes business, markets swing wildly, and political instability grows, WTF brings together bold women leading through uncertainty to navigate change and shape what’s next. Reserve your spot. Thank you for reading the Creator Economy Newsletter! I’d love your feedback, ideas and tips: kaya@theinformation.com. If you think someone else might enjoy this newsletter, please pass it forward or they can sign up here: https://www.theinformation.com/newsletters/creator-economy
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