Faux Influencers to Compete for Actual Cash in 'AI Character of the 12 months' Problem – Decrypt

OpenArt and Fanvue wish to discover the world’s finest AI character, they usually’re placing $90,000 on the desk to do it.

The AI Character of the 12 months 2026 is a four-week international problem, open now via April 19, the place creators design and launch authentic AI influencers competing throughout 5 tracks: Entertainer, Life-style Influencer, Comic, Health, and Anime/Cartoon/Fantasy.

Weekly winners pocket $200 money and a platform shoutout, however there’s a a lot greater prize ready for the last word victor. The grand prize winner takes dwelling $6,000 in money plus $2,000 in paid promotion, precedence placement on Fanvue, and enrollment in each organizers’ affiliate packages.

Observe finalists take dwelling prizes too, starting from $5,000 money and $1,000 in promotional publicity for the winner all the way down to $1,000 in money for the third-place finalist in every class. Fan-voted prizes—Most Viral Video and Viewers Alternative—add $1,000 every to the pool. Add all of it up and the full stretches previous $90,000.

To enter, you should construct your character on OpenArt, launch a public TikTok or Instagram account for it, submit at the least 4 instances throughout the problem window, and tag @OpenArt_AI, @Fanvue, and #AIPersonality2026. That’s easy sufficient on paper, however probably aggressive in observe, provided that ElevenLabs is the founding sponsor and the ambassador lineup consists of a number of the most-followed AI personalities on the web proper now.

The judging panel is 100% human—which is refreshing, for a change. When Miss AI ran its magnificence pageant in 2024, two of its 4 judges had been AI-generated influencers themselves. Right here, the 11-member panel features a 13-time Emmy-winning comedy author, a PR trade co-founder, and a advertising company government.

However “all human” doesn’t suggest these judges are simply spectators to this world. A number of of them constructed the digital personalities that persons are already following. Diana Núñez Morales, the architect behind Aitana—the Barcelona-based AI mannequin who earns as much as €10,000 a month in model offers and was itself a decide within the Miss AI 2024 pagant—is on the panel.

So is Cameron Wilson, creator of Shudu, well known because the world’s first digital supermodel; and Christopher “Topher” Townsend, who constructed Solomon Ray. The folks scoring your entry created a number of the most profitable AI personalities in existence. They’re going to know precisely what they’re .

The digital influencer market was valued at roughly $6 billion in 2024 and is projected to hit almost $46 billion by 2030. As Decrypt reported, AI companions and personas have grown so convincing that telling them aside from actual people “typically feels inconceivable”—and that was over a yr in the past. They’ve solely gotten extra practical since then. Immediately, there are numerous Instagram accounts devoted to show influencers that go viral with out disclosing their AI nature.

OpenArt’s suite covers character creation, picture era, video, and ElevenLabs-powered audio, multi function place. Tutorials on the right way to construct and monetize AI influencers are flooding YouTube, TikTok, and creator newsletters.

Judging standards for the competitors covers high quality, inspiration, model attraction, and social clout via a points-based system. It is not nearly how photorealistic your character seems to be—it is about whether or not the viewers truly exhibits up.

The problem kicked off Monday, with closing winners introduced in Might. The digital influencer financial system now has an official expertise search. The subsequent Aitana may already be queuing up their first submit.