Make Believe represents the next evolution of interactive entertainment — a bold vision where AI enhances human creativity rather than replacing it. The Reid Hoffman investment validates the tech, while partnerships with History Channel signal serious industry credibility.
Insiders note this isn't just about cooking tutorials and fitness apps — it's about creating AI avatars that could theoretically replicate any public figure's likeness and persona. The "Reid AI" demo raises questions about consent, deepfakes, and who really controls a person's digital twin once it's created.
The 2007 viral hit "Crush On Obama" by Key of Awesome has nearly 28 million views. Relles co-founded the Vsauce network with combined seven billion views across channels before joining YouTube to lead innovation at YouTube Originals. Make Believe's tech already created an AI avatar of Reid Hoffman trained on his writing and speeches.
This isn't just another Silicon Valley vanity project — it's a former insider's bet that interactive video will eat Hollywood alive. And given Relles' track record spotting viral formats before anyone else, the industry should probably start paying attention.
Ben Relles has seen the future of entertainment, and it talks back. The former YouTube creator who co-founded the Vsauce network and the viral Key of Awesome channel (you might remember their 2007 hit "Crush On Obama," which has nearly 28 million views) is launching Make Believe — an AI lab specifically designed to create videos that can interact with viewers in real time. And if his track record is any indication, Hollywood should probably be paying very close attention.
"For 100 plus years video has been something you watched. We think part of the next era of video is something that is genuinely interactive," Relles told The Hollywood Reporter in an interview, describing a vision where cooking show hosts answer your questions as you prepare dinner at home, or guitar coaches guide your finger placements in real time. The venture already has heavyweight backing.
LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman — no stranger to AI investments himself — is an investor in Make Believe. In fact, the company's first major proof of concept was creating "Reid AI," an interactive avatar trained on Hoffman's own writing and speeches that could answer questions about his work and philosophy. Here's where things get interesting: The Hollywood Reporter, in an unusual arrangement, was actually referred to this AI-powered Hoffman avatar for quotes about his investment decision.
The avatar responded without irony: "It's about amplifying human agency and connection through AI, not replacing it." The leadership team reads like a YouTube reunion tour. Margaret Burris, another platform veteran, joins as co-founder alongside Alec Lindsay, previously at HeyGen — the AI video company that's already been making waves in synthetic media. Relles himself spent years leading innovation and unscripted programming at YouTube Originals before spinning out to launch this venture.
Make Believe has already locked in a deal with A+E Networks' The History Channel to develop the technology for educational content, with Relles envisioning scenarios where students can have "conversations with historical figures about the times that they experienced firsthand." But beneath the wholesome educational pitch lurks something more disruptive. This tech could theoretically replicate any public figure's likeness and persona — raising thorny questions about consent, control, and what happens when your digital twin starts answering fan mail without you.
Relles frames it as "giving you access to people you wouldn't have access to otherwise," but the industry will be watching closely to see who else signs on — and under what terms. "I always loved the first few years of YouTube, where these new formats would break through that nobody would have expected: Toy unboxings and hair tutorials and gaming play-alongs, and I think it's going to be similar here," Relles said. He has real convictions about where this heads, but acknowledges the specific breakthrough formats remain "a lot of experimentation and trial and error." The question is whether that experimentation benefits creators — or simply gives tech platforms another way to commodify their likenesses after the fact.
