6 hours ago
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Hello Kitty, My Melody and Kuromi owner Sanrio has set a new partnership with AI avatar tech company Genies to launch “personalized” digital experiences for fans.
The first of these projects will feature the character gudetama, “whose humor and relatable personality have resonated strongly with Gen Z and Millennial fans, making him a natural fit for early discovery on emerging platforms,” per Sanrio and Genies. That experience is set to launch later this year with additional characters expected to “follow over time.”
Sanrio and Genies say the AI technology involved is “used to enable interactive communication experiences for fans and is not intended to generate or replace the original creative work,” and that Sanrio “maintains full oversight throughout the creation process to ensure every character remains true to its origins and the brand fans have cherished for decades.”
Per the companies, “All character models and expressions will be individually created and supervised by human creators to preserve each character’s personality, visual identity, and the integrity of the original world and story.”
The news comes on the heels of AI avatar company Genies setting major deals with MLB to turn all of the league’s players into AI characters, and with King Records for AI companion versions of the label’s manga IP characters. To date, Genies has raised $200 million from investors including Silver Lake, BOND and Bob Iger.
“Sanrio has built something truly rare, a universe of characters that fans carry with them across every stage of their lives,” Genies CEO and founder Akash Nigam said. “At Genies, our avatar technology has the ability to transform iconic IP into interactive characters while maintaining the integrity and soul of what makes these characters beloved. By collaborating with Sanrio, we’re introducing new fan-first capabilities that deepen the relationship between fans and the characters they’ve grown up with.”
“Sanrio has always believed in the power of our characters to bring people together,” Sanrio CEO Craig Takiguchi said. “Our strategic collaboration with Genies allows us to explore new technologies that bring our characters to life in interactive ways, creating opportunities for early discovery and engagement with our next-generation audiences. This approach also embraces the philosophy of ‘agency’ that technology enables and will be a key pillar in building our brand and relationships with fans today and in the future, all while keeping our characters authentic and true to their beloved personalities.”
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