The trend: Faceless creators and Vtubers are rapidly gaining traction among brands thanks to cost-effective and scalable AI tools.

Faceless creators—digital influencers who never appear on camera—are having a moment.

• Faceless creator networks like AffiliateNetwork have seen explosive growth, expanding from 5,000 to 21,000 creators in just three months, Digiday reports.
• Top earners reportedly bring in $30,000 to $40,000 per month in brand deals.

How it works:

• These creators often run multiple accounts and publish hundreds of posts daily using AI tools and tactics like “phone farms” to boost reach.
• Much of their content relies on formats like “texting stories,” which use AI to instantly convert scripts into videos.
• The creators are compensated based on performance metrics such as conversions, making them especially attractive for lower-funnel campaigns.

Going virtual: VTubers—YouTubers who employ virtual AI avatars—are part of this shift, though they operate a bit differently.

• Bloo, a virtual persona developed by creator Kwebbelkop, has amassed 2.5 million subscribers and generated seven-figure revenues, CNBC reports. Van den Bussche uses AI for everything from thumbnail creation to multilingual dubbing, and aims to make Bloo fully autonomous.
• New tools like Hedra’s Character-3 and Google’s Veo 3 are making AI video creation more accessible and affordable. Creators like GoldenHand now run up to 50 channels and post as many as 80 AI-generated videos daily.
• Vtubers have averaged 50 billion views annually over the past three years.

Why it matters: This trend means there’s a new crew of creators that brands can enlist.

• Advertisers will be drawn to this model for its efficiencies. Unlike traditional influencers who charge flat fees, faceless creators are typically paid based on performance, which allows marketers to test content at scale without heavy upfront costs.
• However, 31.5% of creators say they would expect their full rate or more when licensing an AI avatar with their likeness, meaning costs might not stay low forever.

This trend is supported by a creator base increasingly open to AI: 20% of creators regularly use AI video tools, and 23.2% are very interested in creating an AI avatar. On the whole, though, platforms and vendors are displaying stronger enthusiasm for AI tools; creators and consumers remain cautious thanks to authenticity and quality concerns.

Our take: Faceless creators and VTubers are redefining the creator space with speed, scale, and cost-efficiencies that should expand the influencer marketing landscape over time traditional creators can’t match.

While concerns about “AI slop” are more than valid, the creative shift is clear: Production is being automated, and value now lies in ideas and execution. As tools improve and monetization grows, brands should expect a new generation of creators who look nothing like their predecessors—because they may not be human at all.