The creator economy’s ad revenue problem and India’s AI ambitions

The creator economy is evolving rapidly, and advertising revenue alone is no longer enough. YouTubers launch product lines, acquire startups and build real business empires. MrBeast’s company has bought fintech startup Step, and its chocolate business is making more money than its media arm. This isn’t just one creator’s strategy. For many it is the new playbook.

In this episode of TechCrunch’s Equity podcast, hosts Kirsten Korosec, Anthony Ha, and Rebecca Bellan explain how creators are diversifying beyond advertising, whether their model can scale beyond the top 1%, everything happening at India’s AI Impact Summit, and more of the week’s headlines.