MeetKai, an “immersive AI company” that has created quite a few metaverse experiences, has enlisted fashionable creator Charlamagne Tha God as an investor and strategic adviser.
The Radio Corridor of Fame inductee, best-selling creator, TV persona and famend media-mogul will work with MeetKai to assist its platform enlargement and collaborate on product innovation, partnership growth and leisure, gaming and e-commerce integrations throughout digital worlds constructed on the MeetKai metaverse.
“MeetKai is redefining the future of entertainment. I see it as the future of social, shopping, gaming and content creation, all while being excitingly immersive,” mentioned Charlamagne Tha God, in a press release. “It’s where the boundaries of reality and digital innovation blur, creating endless possibilities for connection and creativity.”
Charlamagne will present strategic recommendation on find out how to most successfully ship worth and drive income for content material creators, influencers and types on MeetKai’s platform and produce this expertise to mainstream client audiences by distinctive experiences and premium content material.
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To kick off these efforts, Charlamagne’s personal authentic programming will tackle new digital codecs with the assistance of MeetKai’s AI-enabled, metaverse options and roll out on the platform later this yr, immersing followers in Charlamagne’s content material.
James Kaplan, CEO of Meetkai, mentioned in an interview with GamesBeat that Charlamagne can attain people who the corporate may not in any other case attain.
Kaplan mentioned, “Charlamagne is one of the most recognizable voices in the entertainment industry today. He understands the new types of experiences consumers are interested in and how virtual formats, such as the metaverse, will transform the future of content creation and brand experiences for all. We are delighted to welcome him as a strategic advisor as we continue to evolve and grow.”
Though that is Charlamagne’s first foray into AI and rising expertise, he has efficiently navigated the evolving digital panorama and continues to curate premier participating experiences and content material for followers nationwide.
“The entire time we’ve been funded, we’ve really only taken in strategic investments,” mentioned Kaplan. “Charlemagne is coming on as a strategic advisor and investor. Since it’s extremely strategic to us, we see it as a way to move much faster in terms of content. We’ve been talking to him for just over a year now, as we’re building out new tech and doing a lot of different pilots, and we’re trying a lot of different things.”
Weili Dai, the cofounder of Marvell and plenty of new chip firms, has backed Meetkai since its early days.
He added, “Having him on board, I think, is going to really help us bring a lot of this content mainstream and also figure out new ways to bring new types of creators onto these platforms.”
Kaplan mentioned the corporate has constructed a whole lot of tech over the previous few years to have the ability to create metaverse-like experiences, or digital areas, which might be accessible through the online — and don’t require lengthy downloads that make customers impatient. Meetkai has labored with a whole lot of prospects and companions throughout that point.
“We’re starting to see what everyone has known the entire time. If you talk about interactive content, whether you want to call it the metaverse or whatever, having content people care about it is not just a function of the content, but who’s behind the content, right? Creators have a pretty big appeal to younger audiences these days. And I think that’s something that Charlemagne understood very well.”
He added, “Building fresh intellectual property is and experiences is daunting, but working with creators who have their existing fan bases and finding new ways for them to create content and engage with those fan bases is something where we see this as really opening up the market.”
Because the creator of the Black Impact Podcast Community, co-host of the nationally syndicated iHeartRadio program The Breakfast Membership and founder and investor of assorted enterprise ventures throughout publishing, meals and beverage, wellness and past, he’ll convey his experience as an entrepreneur and movie star multi-hyphenate to assist in MeetKai’s speedy commercialization and allow all creators monetize their content material on the metaverse.
“We’re ecstatic to partner with Charlamagne and expand our platform capabilities,” mentioned Peter John Alexander, chief enterprise officer of MeetKai, in a press release. “Charlamagne has always been on the forefront of creativity and innovation, so he’s a valuable addition to the company as we move into our next growth phase – better serving and creating opportunities for the creator economy through technological innovation and development.”
Based mostly in Los Angeles, MeetKai desires to be the AI firm that builds the way forward for the online. It began through the “metaverse” hype cycle however doesn’t use the phrase to explain its efforts. In any occasion, the corporate has created 3D animation instruments that allow it to construct web-based digital areas. By a mixture of AI and metaverse apps, Meetkai has reached 75 million customers.
On the one hand, Charlemagne will help Meetkai leverage AI in experiences, equivalent to radio exhibits and podcasts and evolve it quickly on a weekly foundation.
“He is really at the forefront, and arguably the leader in terms of a lot of that space. We’re really looking at how can we take a lot of the tech that we’ve built across different domains and really make it work for that industry in a scalable way, as opposed to, a one off way.”
In relation to digital areas and social components, the trade hasn’t actually cracked the youthful demographic by way of engagement, he mentioned.
“TikTok has shown you push it out to the world and the algorithm helps people consume it,” he mentioned.
Kaplan is worked up about increasing into music and audio content material, in addition to different avenues the corporate hasn’t totally explored but. Kaplan mentioned Meetkai related with Charlemagne final summer time at a convention. They’ve been speaking each since.
“He’s one of the first people we met that understood where this direction is going over the next five or 10 years,” he mentioned, “As opposed to a lot of people who I think have been riding hype cycles. Our objective has always been not to ride a hype cycle, but rather just keep doing what we’re doing and keep going along with what we believe is the right way to move.”
Meetkai has performed work for the Wall Road Journal, the Nationwide Basketball Gamers Affiliation, the Charlotte Hornets, BYD and Sony Photos. Kaplan mentioned he’ll speak about extra fascinating tasks later this yr.