Online creators and their business models were on our mind this week after mega-popular YouTuber MrBeast announced that his company is buying fintech startup Step, followed by Hollywood studios sending a flurry of cease-and-desist letters to ByteDance over the launch of its new video generation model Seedance 2.0. Those seemingly unconnected headlines suggest a media landscape in the midst of transformative change, as popular YouTubers look to diversify their business models, with the threat and promise of increasingly powerful generative AI tools on the horizon. On the latest episode of TechCrunch's Equity podcast, Kirsten Korosec, Rebecca Bellan, and I debated what's next for the creator economy, and whether there will be any room for the next generation of creators to stand out. 'What's the next saturation point'' Kirsten wondered. 'Not all of these folks can go out and spin off products. So then does the pool of successful creators just simply get smaller' Or will something else...
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