The Creator Economy is “Eating the World”

In 2011 Marc Andreessen declared that ‘software is eating the world.’ Today, it’s the AI-powered creator economy that’s poised to take the crown.

For the last two decades, the creator economy has rapidly evolved at unprecedented speed, moving far beyond the initial ideal of individuals capturing fleeting attention. As each stage ushered in new platforms, tools, and monetization models the opportunities gleaned from cultivating community and influence through content have fundamentally expanded.

Over the years, the internet at large as well as platforms like YouTube, Instagram, TikTok, and Substack have democratized distribution and discovery, making it possible for creators around the world to build and monetize audiences without traditional gatekeepers. Now with generative AI democratizing content creation itself, the means of production have finally caught up with the means of distribution, unlocking a new era where anyone with imagination can create IP, shape culture, and build creative empires at a level that was once unimaginable.

Media analyst Doug Shapiro puts it best:

“The internet caused the cost to move bits to plummet…while GenAI may cause the cost to make bits to plummet. So, while the last 15-20 years were defined by the disruption of content distribution, the next decade may be defined by the disruption of content creation.”

The rise of video generation tools like Sora, Pika, Google Veo 3, and many others redefine what it takes to become a studio and empowers creators to increasingly reach state of the art production capabilities and create cinematic quality output without access to traditional Hollywood pipelines.

This shift doesn’t just challenge traditional media hierarchies, it dismantles and re-architects them. Creators are no longer content participants; they are infrastructure builders, cultural exporters, and economic engines. By unbundling industries from the inside out and reassembling them around communities, participation, and IP ownership, we’re entering a new chapter in human history, one that I call The Imagination Age.

As shallow attention metrics have given way to deeper forms of value like trust, community, and measurable outcomes, AI is supercharging creators’ ability to build and scale around these foundations. This shift meaningfully rebalances power between creators and institutions, unlocking more control, ownership, and opportunity for individuals now able to operate as full-stack creative enterprises.

From Content Creator to Full-Stack Studio

For years, leading creators have shown what it looks like to build studios from the ground up. Creators like MrBeast, Dhar Mann, Alex Cooper and many others have scaled beyond solo content creation into full-blown production houses complete with writers’ rooms, in-house editors, producers, agents, and even crossover deals with Hollywood. They’ve turned content into companies, optimized for multi-platform distribution, and built monetization machines that rival legacy media businesses.

But this level of scale is still the exception, not the rule.

Despite the visibility of these creator-operators, the vast majority of the creator economy remains financially underserved. In the U.S., only about 4% of creators earn over $100K per year, and most make under $1,000 annually (source). The gap between those at the top and the rest is driven less by talent or potential and more by access to capital, creative infrastructure, and production resources.

This is where generative AI introduces a massive unlock.

By dramatically reducing the time, cost, and complexity required to produce high-quality content, generative AI gives small creator teams, even solo creators, the ability to operate with the sophistication of scaled studios and top tier creative agencies. What once required dozens of people and six-figure budgets can now be done with a laptop, a model, and a vision. AI tools for video, audio, writing, editing, and visual design are making it possible for creators to punch far above their weight. And as is often said, these AI tools are the worst they’ll ever be.

I’ve witnessed this impact with my own eyes. In April, my startup (in stealth) partnered with Machine Cinema to bring together top TikTok creators (between 1-10M followers each) and we paired them with a small team of 2-3 AI artists to see what happens when we integrate video generation tools into a creator’s workflow. With the creator acting as a creative director, these small teams combined live action from their proven formats with the capabilities of generative AI to achieve creative visions they never thought possible.

One creator turned a popular character she created into an animated series, another reimagined a high-production concept which would have cost millions to execute for her brand ambassadorship with a major airline, another created a custom AR experience leveraging a major gaming franchise… Near post-ready content, all within a three-hour workshop.

The sentiment from the creators was unanimous: “My dreams are coming true before my eyes”, “Anything I can imagine is now possible,” and “I’m a kid in a candy store” were direct quotes from this workshop.

Drea Okeke shares her sentiment on the impact of AI in her workflow

This shift doesn’t just supercharge output—it has the potential to create an entirely new “creator middle class” and expand opportunities for the most elite creator class as well. One where creative ambition is no longer constrained by access to capital or traditional gatekeepers, but is instead enabled by the smart, strategic use of AI as a co-creator. But content alone doesn’t build an empire. Infrastructure, monetization, and ownership models must evolve too, which is exactly what’s happening.

We’re embarking into a future where more creators can reach their full potential—not just a lucky few.

These AI-augmented creators can establish sophisticated "content pipelines" and "post-production workflows" with remarkable efficiency. AI functions as a powerful "assistant," managing tasks from ideation and scriptwriting to asset generation, editing, and voiceovers, thereby enabling creators to achieve near Hollywood-level production values without outsized traditional Hollywood budgets or infrastructure. This nascent capability directly challenges the conventional aspiration for creators to "cross over" into traditional media to access larger production resources and prestige; AI is democratizing such access.

“Glider Man”, Director Dave Clark, Made with Veo 3. 100% Text-to-Video AI short film.

Creators Are Rebuilding the Media Economy from the Bottom Up

The creator economy has long been evolving, from vloggers and influencers to educators, brand builders, and franchise architects. Over the years, new monetization models have emerged: branded content, scaled UGC, affiliate commerce, courses, revenue sharing, and more. But with the rise of generative AI, these models are being radically transformed.

Today, solo creators and a new class of AI-native artists can build expansive creative universes that rival the scale and sophistication of traditional studios. This shift marks an acceleration away from ephemeral, feed-driven content toward the construction of enduring, multi-format franchises, built not for algorithms, but for long-term value.

To be clear, creator IP is not new. MrBeast turned challenge formats into a global content engine. Blippi became a full-blown children’s entertainment brand. Emma Chamberlain spun her personality into a lifestyle product line. Creators have long pushed beyond “content” to develop formats, characters, and worlds that resonate across platforms and product categories.

What’s different now is what’s possible. Generative AI supercharges this creative potential, reducing the cost, time, and team size required to scale original IP. Creators are now iterating faster, experimenting bolder, and building smarter. The result is a new generation of IP that is not only creator-owned, but AI-accelerated, positioning creators to become the foundational architects of next-gen media.

Below is a look at the creator-led transformations impacting the global economy.

As creators take on roles traditionally held by production studios, media companies, and retailers, a new taxonomy is emerging. These aren’t just influencers, they’re founders, storytellers, technologists, and worldbuilders. Below is a look at some of the leading creator archetypes shaping the future of content, commerce, and IP.

It’s important to note that these categories are not mutually exclusive. Many creators evolve or combine elements of multiple models and as AI becomes more integrated into creator’s workflows, the opportunities and potential for scale (new formats, cross-platform, personalization, localization) expand.

Participatory Media in the Imagination Age

Crucially, AI transcends its role as a mere production tool; it is a catalyst for fundamentally altering the creator–audience dynamic. The lines between content creator and content consumer are becoming increasingly blurred. Especially as AI tools provide greater accessibility, audiences are more and more empowered to transition from passive consumers to active co-creators. Creator studios might provide AI-driven frameworks or assets that permit audiences to customize experiences, generate variations of content, or even contribute to ongoing narrative development. Creation thus evolves into a more participatory and iterative dialogue, moving beyond a unidirectional broadcast.

We’ve already seen early forms of this dynamic through features like TikTok stitches, duets, reply videos, hashtag challenges, and trend-based formats, all of which allowed audiences to engage with content as collaborators rather than spectators. But generative AI has the potential to supercharge this phenomenon.

A powerful example of this shift is the Midjourney and Discord prompt-based art communities, where tens of thousands of creators engage in collaborative prompt battles, remix challenges, and thematic co-creation threads. These communities don’t just generate content, they create iterative, evolving works of art that are shaped in real time by a decentralized collective.

This dynamic interplay is a defining characteristic of the Imagination Age, where the act of creation itself becomes increasingly distributed, collaborative, and decentralized, blurring the boundaries between artist, audience, and machine.

MidJourney Discord Community Feed

Who’s Going to Fund the Next Wave of Creators?

As content creation becomes increasingly democratized and more creators have the tools to build their own IP, franchises, and worlds, the natural question becomes: where will the money come from to support this explosion of creative output?

Historically, content production at scale was funded by centralized gatekeepers: studios, networks, and publishers. But in this new era where content is decentralized, participatory, and scalable through AI funding must evolve just as radically. Here’s where it’s heading:

1. Studios Will Shift Dollars Toward Individuals

Traditional studios, under pressure to modernize, will need to start funding creators directly, not just as talent-for-hire, but as independent creative engines. The advantage is clear too: creators de-risk content investments. They test concepts in real time, build audiences before launch, and bring built-in distribution.

Backing a creator with a proven aesthetic, loyal community, and viral testing track record is often a safer bet than developing a show from scratch. Studios will need to act more like venture capitalists, funding IP at the seed stage, then scaling what works. In fact we’re already seeing actual VCs lean into this opportunity. For example, Slow Ventures recently announced their $60M creator fund.

And with AI lowering production costs, this becomes even more attractive for traditional studios as well. For a fraction of the traditional budget, studios can invest in creator-led formats that show early traction and community resonance.

2. Audiences Are Becoming the Backers

Direct audience monetization is booming. Platforms like Substack, Patreon, and OnlyFans have given creators the tools to convert fan engagement into recurring revenue. And as content becomes more interactive and co-creative, the value proposition for fans increases. They’re not just consuming content; they’re participating in it.

AI amplifies this even further. When fans can remix, customize, or even co-create content using the frameworks provided by their favorite creators, a deeper sense of ownership and alignment emerges. Creators aren’t just asking for support, they’re inviting collaboration. And in doing so, they unlock monetization models that look more like SaaS or micro-investment than old-school fan funding.

We’re moving toward a world where audience patronage becomes audience participation, and that participation becomes revenue.

3. Brands Will Act More Like Studios

The third and perhaps most transformative source of funding will come from brands. But not in the form of one-off sponsorships or product placements. We’re talking about branded entertainment at scale.

As more creators build original IP, brands have an opportunity to shift from renting attention to co-owning cultural moments. They’ll fund content not just to advertise, but to embed themselves in storytelling, partnering with creator studios to develop series, worlds, formats, and interactive experiences.

Why? Because it’s a win-win:

• Creators get resources, reach, and infrastructure without giving up independence.

• Brands get differentiated, ownable IP and access to niche communities with built-in trust.

This deeper mode of brand investment is prompted by authenticity and trust. Creator-led IP inherently possesses an authentic voice and pre-established trust within niche communities, assets that brands find invaluable and challenging to replicate independently.

By partnering with innovative creator studios, brands can embed themselves in cultural conversations, not as advertisers, but as producers. These partnerships allow brands to shift from interrupting content to creating it, earning relevance through storytelling, aesthetic alignment, and community engagement.

A recent and high-profile example is the Barbie movie, which didn’t just promote a product, it shifted an outdated perception of the brand. The campaign leveraged a massive constellation of creators, designers, and filmmakers to transform Barbie from a legacy toy into a cultural moment. Through memes, fashion collaborations, user-generated content, and narrative storytelling, the brand became part of the zeitgeist, not by pushing ads, but by co-creating a world audiences wanted to engage with.

Barbie’s combined production and marketing budget was nearly $300 million, a scale achievable only by major studios with deep pockets and global infrastructure. This wasn’t just exceptional marketing, it was a paradigm shift in how brands approach storytelling, made possible by creator-led vision and cultural fluency.

But imagine… in the era of generative AI, those costs are poised to drop precipitously. What once required massive teams, multi-agency coordination, and months of post-production can now be achieved by small creator studios using AI to ideate, produce, test, iterate, and distribute content with cinematic quality and cultural prestige. This shift doesn’t just lower costs; it broadens access to cultural influence, enabling a far wider range of creators to build IP that resonates at scale.

In this model, brands don’t just sponsor creators, they become enablers of creative ecosystems. And in many cases, they’ll function as the new commissioning studios of the Imagination Age.

What’s Next: The Dawn of the Imagination Age

The path ahead isn’t just about more content. It’s about better, smarter, more scalable creation. Enabled by AI, fueled by audiences, and backed by brands, the next chapter of the creator economy will not be defined by fleeting virality—but by long-term creative ownership, sustainable monetization, and a new breed of media built from the ground up by individual visionaries.

This is a future where:

• More creators become full-stack studios

• More consumers become collaborators

• More brands, studios, and VCs become backers of original IP

And as the tools continue to evolve, the barriers will continue to fall. The creator economy isn’t just transforming media, it’s rebuilding the entire media, entertainment, retail, and advertising infrastructure from the bottom up.

The future of content is not centralized. It’s creator-led, AI-powered, participatory, and infinitely scalable.

We’re not just witnessing a shift in who gets to create. We’re witnessing a rearchitecture of the global economy around imagination and participation in the age of AI.