Building the next generation of AI characters with DigitalOcean’s scalable infrastructure

Ex-Human is redefining the way people interact with artificial intelligence by creating deeply engaging, empathetic AI characters. Founded by Artem Rodichev, Ex-Human enables users to create and engage with unique digital personas across text, image, video, and audio. With over one million monthly active users and five million custom-created characters, Ex-Human is rapidly shaping the future of AI-driven companionship.

Rodichev’s vision for Ex-Human was inspired by movies like Her and Blade Runner 2049, which sparked his belief that empathetic AI characters will soon be a part of everyday life. He saw the limitations of existing chatbot platforms, particularly their lack of customization and scalability.

To bring Artem’s vision to life, Ex-Human needed a robust and cost-effective cloud solution that could handle massive volumes of real-time interactions. DigitalOcean emerged as the ideal partner, offering affordability, reliability, and ease of use.

Why Ex-Human chooses DigitalOcean

Startup-friendly pricing

One of the main reasons Ex-Human chose DigitalOcean was its cost-effectiveness, especially for startups. “You have the best price on the market under your startup program,” Rodichev noted. DigitalOcean’s Hatch program provides early-stage startups with cloud credits, enabling them to scale efficiently without the heavy financial burden associated with cloud computing.

DigitalOcean also offers transparent pricing with predictable costs—unlike hyperscalers which often come with complex billing structures—so startups always know what they’ll pay.

Reliable GPU infrastructure

For an AI-driven company like Ex-Human, performance and uptime are crucial. “We serve hundreds of millions of messages and generate over 50 million images each month,” said Rodichev. “With DigitalOcean, it’s much more stable…it just works.”

DigitalOcean’s GPU Droplets, powered by high-performance NVIDIA GPUs designed for machine learning and AI workloads, are optimized for low-latency inference and high-speed data processing, allowing Ex-Human to generate responses in real-time without lag. Rodichev emphasized that, “We have experienced connectivity and availability issues with other platforms, but with DigitalOcean we don’t have these concerns. It’s stable, and that’s exactly what we need."

Seamless scaling for AI workloads

Ex-Human’s infrastructure must scale efficiently to handle the vast amount of data it processes every day. With DigitalOcean’s scalable compute options, Ex-Human can quickly adapt to changing user demands. DigitalOcean’s Droplets and Kubernetes clusters enable automatic scaling, ensuring uninterrupted service even during peak usage times.

Additionally, DigitalOcean’s Managed Databases provide reliable storage solutions for Ex-Human’s vast user data. “We utilize DigitalOcean both for GPU infrastructure and also for backend servers, analytics, and Redis,” Rodichev said, highlighting the platform’s flexibility in handling both AI and database workloads.

Ease of use

Unlike complex cloud providers, DigitalOcean prioritizes simplicity—a cloud that just works. “We found DigitalOcean more intuitive and simpler than working with AWS or Google Cloud,” Rodichev noted. DigitalOcean’s developer-friendly API, one-click deployments, and easy-to-use control panel allow Ex-Human’s team to focus on delivering an excellent experience rather than managing cloud complexity.

Looking ahead to Ex-Human’s future

Rodichev’s journey as a founder has been both exhilarating and often very challenging, but his passion for building the future of AI keeps him moving forward. With DigitalOcean as a key infrastructure partner, Ex-Human is poised to redefine the landscape of AI-driven engagement.

With DigitalOcean’s cost-effective, high-performance, and developer-friendly infrastructure, Ex-Human is not just building AI-driven entertainment; it’s pioneering the future of empathetic digital interactions.

Interested in building an AI solution? Check out our GPU Droplets. Or chat with a member of our Sales team!