Character.AI adds Snap vet David Brinker to broker media partnerships
Add Axios as your preferred source to
see more of our stories on Google.
Photo courtesy of Character.AI
Character.AI, a personalized AI chatbot developer, has hired media veteran David Brinker to build partnerships that will bring its chatbot characters to life.
Why it matters: Character.AI says what differentiates it from other chatbot startups is its focus on helping users create personalized characters and build stories and engagement around them. Media partnerships will be critical to expanding its user base and advancing its business.
Zoom in: In his new role, Brinker will be responsible for brokering relationships across the media industry and finding partners who want to bring their IP to life on Character.AI.
- For now, the focus is on entertainment partners across video, television, books and more. Potential partners aren't just media companies, but also athletes, creators, and fictional characters.
- "It's really about finding where people want to work with us and creating the use cases," Brinker said.
- At this point, it's unclear how Character.AI plans to structure deals with creators and IP holders, but Brinker said the goal is to create sustainable partnerships where both Character.AI and its partners benefit.
Yes, but: Character.AI and its founders—who now work at Google—are currently facing two lawsuits from parents whose children used the app.
- Character.AI released additional safety features late last year and told Axios that the changes will result in a different experience for teens than what's available to adult users.
The big picture: The company, which raised $150 million at a $1 billion post-money valuation last year, hopes to make money by charging direct-to-consumer subscription fees. Media partnerships could also expand monetization opportunities, Brinker said.
Between the lines: Character.AI's userbase of 20 million is young and highly engaged in storytelling, Brinker said.
- "There are hundreds of thousands of characters created every day by our audience, and some of those user-generated characters are incredibly engaging."
- Media partnerships will help Character.AI evolve to help users expand their characters to new formats and use cases, "like writing fiction, telling your own stories, or taking somebody else's story and remixing it to make it your own," Brinker said.
Catch up quick: Prior to his new role, Brinker spent eight years at Snap, where he helped broker more than 1,000 media and creator partnerships.
- He was previously the president of the New York Post. Before that he managed mergers and acquisitions at News Corp.
- Brinker currently advises several other AI startups, including Particle, an AI-powered news app, and TollBit, a two-sided marketplace for publishers and AI companies.
What to watch: Some AI companies have begun to experiment with content partnerships and licensing, to various degrees of success.
- Meta killed its AI-powered Instagram and Facebook profiles that relied on licensed celebrity personas like Kendall Jenner and Tom Brady following weak user reception.
The bottom line: Brinker cited Character.AI's "clarity of vision" around owning the entertainment IP space as part of his decision to join the company. He also said heavy engagement amongst its user base made him bullish that media companies and creators will be excited about partnering.
