- MrBeast's next growth act may come from AI-produced videos.
- Jimmy Donaldson's company is looking for someone to lead a production team with AI at the foundation.
- MrBeast has been expanding his company while looking for ways to save.
YouTube's biggest star, MrBeast, is looking for a leader to help his company create "AI-native" productions.
A job posting says that Beast Industries wants to build a new production capability in which AI is "not a tool but the foundation."
It calls for someone who can help define "what AI-native entertainment looks like, develop original formats, and build systems that enable content to be conceived, produced, and scaled with AI at the core."
MrBeast, whose real name is Jimmy Donaldson, wouldn't be the first creator to delve into AI. Fellow superstar creator Steven Bartlett has been making fully AI-animated shows since last year.
Still, as YouTube's top creator with 479 million subscribers, Donaldson's moves in the space will be closely watched by the entertainment community.
Many production studios are adopting AI across production, marketing, and visual effects, and startups are raising millions on the promise of helping legacy Hollywood transition to the AI era.
So far, entirely AI productions are largely the realm of animation, podcasts, and short-form video.
In the micro drama space, apps including TikTok's Pine Drama and Vigloo have character-driven dramas generated by AI. These AI dramas account for 10% of Vigloo's library, a spokesperson said. The Beijing-based startup StoReel recently raised $34 million to make AI micro dramas.
AI-driven productions would solve some problems for Donaldson.
He is famous for his viral, high-budget challenge and giveaway videos, though the company has been tightening up spending. One of the job's listed expectations is to use automation to make more content, faster.
Making AI-driven videos also directly addresses the risk any creator faces when they build a company that relies on their time and persona. As Donaldson expands his company to consumer products and services, it limits his bandwidth to star in his own videos. He recently hired former NBCU unscripted executive Corie Henson to head his studio division and is looking to broaden the company's video franchises. He said this week his company now has 750 employees.
Donaldson himself has shared concerns about AI's risk to his industry.
After OpenAI released Sora 2 last fall, Donaldson mused on X about what AI's advancement will mean for creators, adding, "Scary times."
He also released — and then removed — a tool that used AI to generate video thumbnails last year, after receiving backlash from creators.
