According to industry research, the global market for so-called “digital immortality” – from AI avatars to digital personality doppelgangers – has already reached $35.8 billion in 2026 and could grow to $60.9 billion by 2030, notes Research & Markets.
The growth is supported by the development of generative AI, cheaper computing and the explosive growth of personal data – the key “raw material” for creating digital copies of a person.
But most importantly, the logic of the market itself is changing: AI is beginning to monetize not only tasks, but also the person as a digital asset, the publication notes.
Market: from chatbots to digital personality
The new category is formed at the intersection of several fast-growing segments – generative AI, digital avatars and digital twin technology.
Companies are already offering products that “replicate a person’s speech, behavior, and even decision-making,” creating full-fledged digital copies of a person.
Players include startups and platforms like Synthesia, Soul Machines and Replika, as well as a wider range of generative AI developers, including OpenAI.
Investors are actively entering this segment. Synthesia, for example, raised $200 million and reached a $4 billion valuation, nearly doubling its capitalization in a year.
More broadly, according to PitchBook, AI startups raised $73.1 billion in just one quarter of 2025 – nearly 58% of the entire venture capital market.
In fact, the digital humans market is becoming part of the largest investment cycle in the tech sector in the last decade.
Risks: bubble, ownership and the digital self
Despite the growth, the industry faces fundamental issues – and these are already impacting investor valuations and strategy.
First, the problem of overvaluation. Large funds are warning of a “hype bubble” in the AI market, where companies are receiving multi-billion dollar valuations with limited revenue, claims Reuters.
Second, the legal vacuum. Technology allows the creation of data-driven digital copies of a person, but there is no clear regulation – who owns the digital twin, whether a person can be “reproduced” after death, who is liable for the actions of the AI copy, etc.
Third, the structural risk of the technology itself. Despite rapid progress, digital doubles remain a simulation rather than a full-fledged consciousness – which limits their real value beyond marketing, entertainment and individual corporate scenarios.
