Particle6 founder and CEO Eline van der Velden is to launch AI talent studio, Xicoia, “designed to create, manage and monetise a new generation of hyperreal digital stars.”
Sitting alongside AI production company Particle6, Xicoia will be a separate business focused on creating talent for use in “everything from film and tv productions to podcasts, TikTok, YouTube, brand campaigns and video games – as well as interactions with fans.”
Building on a proprietary avatar personality engine, DeepFame, developed by Particle6, plus a direct fan engagement platform, Xicoia is now developing a scalable portfolio of “emotionally intelligent” AI personas. Xicoia’s AI characters are developed with “complete backstories, distinct voices, evolving narrative arcs, and fully realised personalities.” The characters can engage in unscripted conversations, perform monologues, respond to trends in real time, and adapt tone and references to suit platform-specific audiences.
Eline van der Velden, Founder and CEO of Xicoia, said: “With Xicoia, we’re creating the first studio where AI-driven talent isn’t just a gimmick—it’s living, performing IP with depth, humour, and narrative arcs. We believe the next generation of cultural icons will be synthetic: stars that never tire, never age, and can interact with fans. But just like the best entertainment companies, the key isn’t the technology—it’s the storytelling and the people behind those stories.”
The first of these characters, Tilly Norwood, has soft-launched on TikTok, Instagram, and in a sketch on YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3sVO_j4czYs), “where her chaotic humour and fearless fashion sense are building an early following.”
Beyond its stable of AI-born talent and wholly-owned IP, Xicoia is also working with “several Hollywood stars” who wish to appear on screen as their younger or current selves—”not just recreating likenesses but incorporating their rich, authentic personalities for them in the process.” The company is also collaborating with estates to bring legendary performers back to the big screen, “while offering studios a new way to reimagine and exploit existing IP by bringing iconic characters to life in a new medium.”
The company’s plan includes scaling to more than 40 AI personas, licensing its DeepFame technology as a platform, and expanding into scripted entertainment formats, live performances, and merchandising. The plan is for Xicoia’s characters “to be part of a shared universe, where events in one character’s life may impact another.”
Van der Velden adds: “We’re standing at the dawn of a new category—AI-powered celebrity IP. Xicoia’s mission is to shape it, own it, and set the creative standard. Just as the 20th century was defined by the rise of film stars and pop icons, we believe the 21st will be defined by synthetic talent.”
Jon Creamer
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