GoKawiilSynthesia builds interactive AI avatar of TechCrunch reporter trained on one article
Video-generation startup Synthesia, valued at $4 billion, created an interactive digital avatar of a TechCrunch journalist during a visit to its new New York office. The avatar is trained specifically to answer questions about her article on why VC-backed startups commit more fraud than non-VC-backed ones. Synthesia had previously built a similar avatar of its own head of corporate affairs, Alexandru Voica, to field press questions about the company.
GoKawiil's interpretation of the reporting above, not reported fact.
The move suggests Synthesia is testing its avatar technology as a tool for media relations and personal branding, not just corporate training, which could normalize AI-generated stand-ins for real people in journalism and PR. It also raises questions about how such tools might blur lines around authenticity and consent when representing individuals publicly, though no formal policy on this use is described.
- Synthesia, valued at $4B with over $100M ARR, created a custom interactive avatar of a journalist.
- The avatar only answers questions related to one specific article about VC-backed startup fraud.
- Synthesia previously built a similar avatar for its own PR executive to answer press questions.
Source: techcrunch.com — Dominic-Madori Davis, 2026-09-26
Published there as: “I created an interactive digital avatar of myself — and you can talk to it”
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