💰️ AI YouTubers are earning millions

Also: Microsoft to cut up to 9000 jobs as it invests in AI

Author

Evolving AI
July 04, 2025

Welcome, AI enthusiasts

One of the most popular gaming YouTubers is named Bloo. But he isn’t a human, he’s a VTuber. A fully virtual personality powered by artificial intelligence. VTubers first gained traction in Japan in the 2010s, and now advances in AI are making it easier than ever to create VTubers, fueling a new wave of virtual creators on YouTube. Let’s dive in! 

In today’s insights:

  • AI virtual personality YouTubers are earning millions

  • Microsoft to cut up to 9000 jobs as it invests in AI

  • Cloudflare just became an enemy of all AI companies

Read time: 4 minutes

LATEST DEVELOPMENTS

Source: Jordi Van Den Bussche

Evolving AI: AI-powered virtual personalities are taking over YouTube and making serious money.

Key Points:

  • VTubers like Bloo are AI-driven characters pulling millions of views and big profits.

  • New AI tools make it easier than ever to create fully automated video channels.

  • Concerns grow about low-quality "AI slop" flooding online platforms.

Details:

VTubers started in Japan in the 2010s but exploded worldwide as AI tech improved. One big star is Bloo, a virtual gamer with 2.5 million subscribers and 700 million views. Bloo was created by Jordi van den Bussche (kwebbelkop) after he burned out from traditional YouTube work. Bloo has already generated more than seven figures in revenue, according to van den Bussche. He now uses AI tools to handle most tasks, from video editing to voice dubbing. Other creators are also using AI to run faceless channels, publishing dozens of videos daily. Tools like Hedra’s Character-3 and Google’s Veo 3 let creators make fully AI-generated content, even whole personalities. While this helps scale fast, many worry it floods feeds with low-effort "AI slop," making it harder to find quality content online.

Why It Matters:

We're at this weird point where people would rather watch an AI puppet play Minecraft than a real person. And it's not just about entertainment. Big brands are using virtual influencers to push products without worrying about scandals or burnout. We are blurring the line between real and fake faster than anyone thought. And honestly, if AI personalities keep getting better, who’s to say people won’t start liking them more than real humans?

Source: AP

Evolving AI: Microsoft is cutting 9,000 jobs, its largest layoff in over two years, as it focuses more on AI and trims costs in slower areas like Xbox.

Key Points:

  • Microsoft is laying off about 4% of its global workforce, including 830 in Redmond.

  • The move affects Xbox, sales, and other teams to simplify management and boost agility.

  • Cuts help offset rising costs as Microsoft invests billions in AI infrastructure and chips.

Details:

Microsoft has started sending layoff notices to around 9,000 employees worldwide, marking its biggest workforce cut since 2022. The cuts impact less than 4% of its 228,000 employees, hitting the Xbox gaming division and global sales teams hardest. Xbox CEO Phil Spencer said the move will help focus on strategic growth areas and make the division more agile. The layoffs come after Microsoft’s massive spending on AI data centers, chips, and other infrastructure. These costs were estimated at $80 billion last year. Earlier layoffs this year already affected thousands, fueling concerns that AI tools, like Microsoft’s own code-writing products, might reduce engineering roles. Analysts see this as a shift to prioritize AI and cloud while cutting back on gaming and other slower-growing parts of the business.

Why It Matters:

This isn’t just about Microsoft trying to save a few bucks. What’s really happening is a big shift across the whole tech industry where everyone is going all in on AI and kind of moving away from older business areas. It’s like they’re saying, "We have to be faster and smarter, and AI is the way to get there." And it’s not just Microsoft. Google, Meta, and Amazon are all cutting jobs and putting more money into AI and cloud. The thing is, some of these jobs might not come back because AI tools can now do parts of that work. It feels a bit crazy, but yeah, we’re basically watching the future of tech get rebuilt right in front of us.

Source: Getty Images

Evolving AI: Cloudflare is blocking AI bots from scraping websites by default. New domains can now choose to allow or block them, changing how AI models gather data.

Key Points:

  • Cloudflare will ask every new domain if it wants to block AI crawlers.

  • Around 16% of global internet traffic flows through Cloudflare’s network.

  • This move aims to give creators more control and potentially charge AI firms for access.

Details:

Cloudflare, one of the biggest content delivery networks, now blocks AI crawlers by default for new websites. This means new domains signing up must actively allow bots if they want to share their data. Cloudflare plans to let publishers charge AI crawlers using a “pay per crawl” model. AI bots have been scraping huge amounts of content to train models like OpenAI’s and Google’s, often without permission. Cloudflare says this harms publishers by cutting traffic and ad revenue. The move builds on last year’s tool that let sites block AI bots with one click. OpenAI didn’t support this plan, saying it respects website preferences through existing systems like robots.txt.

Why It Matters:

A lot of websites are tired of AI bots taking their content without asking, and it makes sense. We’re now seeing more companies say they want to get paid when AI models use their work. Cloudflare’s move is part of a bigger shift to protect creators and maybe slow down endless data scraping. Some people think this could make AI models less powerful for a while, but it might also push the industry to respect and reward original content more.

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