Ready for Virtual Franken-stars? Soul Machines CEO Says Yes

variety.com:

Andrew Wallenstein President and Chief Media Analyst Soul Machines is a fascinating venture that is marrying state-of-the-art animation with artificial intelligence to create something that just might be the next big thing in entertainment.

The company has been around since 2016, having raised over $135 million from some of the leading venture capital funds in the world including Softbank.

The vision Soul Machines is selling is the ability to enable consumers to interact one on one with a CGI simulation of their favorite celebrity powered by artificial intelligence. Listen to the podcast here: “Think about this way of, how we can democratize a fan experience where you can go to a website and you could have a face-to-face conversation with what we talk about as a digital twin,” said Greg Cross, CEO of Soul Machines, on the latest episode of the Variety podcast “Strictly Business.” Cross has lined up deals with an eclectic group of famous virtual characters both dead and alive including Marilyn Monroe, golf legend Greg Norman and current K-pop sensation Mark Tuan to lead the way.

All the companies needs is a few hours to capture their likeness, personality and voice, and AI works its magic, translating them into numerous language for global exploitation.