Khaby Lame: From Ice Deportation To A $975 Million AI Deal

If you’re a frustrated account holder on TikTok with 11 followers, well, you can take heart from this story about Khaby Lame. He just been offered a massive money-booster that anyone would envy. Notably, he virtually came from nowhere. Read on for more details.

Don’t Give Up Yet

Although TikTok recently changed hands, it’s still a huge platform despite fears of more censorship. So, don’t throw in the towel yet! During the COVID lockdowns, Lame lost his job in a factory and started posting videos to kill time.

Well, today, he’s the top most followed creator worldwide. Khaby’s last seven months seem mindboggling. He ended up self deporting from the USA back to his homeland in Senegal in June last year, and now, he’s laughing all the way to the bank.

At one time, he was stopped by ICE at an airport but he later transitioned into a mega-star despite that. Basically an overstayer, the US government didn’t stick him in jail and let him leave quietly.

Well, he’s back with a bang, but probably not stateside right now. As far as we know, he’s back in his country, and still coming up with videos.

The Billion Dollar Pivot

While everybody was busy with the deportation topic, Khaby quietly worked on a monster business offer and according to the Financial Express and other impressive mags, Khaby scored close to a billion dollars.

Apparently, Khaby Lame entered a deal with U. S. listed company, Rich Sparkle Holdings. They acquired a firm called Step Distinctive Limited, which is basically the offshoot of Khaby’s TikTok brand, for an eye-popping $975 million.

The outlet explained that it’s a “revolution in the global content e-commerce model.” Notably, Khaby Lame’s a “controlling shareholder.”

The TikTokker maintains a hold of his empire, but also cashes in on a scale that social media followers probably never heard of before.

Get Used To The ‘Digital Twin’

Additionally, the deal involves “Digital Twin” as the agreement allows the company to “authorise the use of his Face ID, Voice ID, and behavioral models for AI Digital Twin development.”

The AI aspect seems very interesting, seeing that some major search engines bury that sort of content. What this actually means, is that they plan to facilitate cross-time-zone, long-duration virtual livestream commerce.

Usefully, there’s no language barrier. You might recall, that Khaby Lame never used a voiceover, and mostly produces silent skits. At the moment, he has 160.5 million followers on TikTok.

Mostly, it means that for Khaby, he doesn’t need to work so hard as he’s basically being replicated by e-commerce. Bear in mind, Khaby was already making $20 million a year before this deal. And, he was listed in the Top 10 Creators by Forbes last year.

Reactions On Social Media

On Reddit, when the news about the new business broke, many people chatted about it. One of them penned:

The deal is very interesting, so part of the deal includes a provision to create a digital AI twin of Lame using his biometric data. I wonder how much say he has on how that digital twin can be used. I see a lot of similar deals coming soon. Get famous enough, sell your biometrics, and a company can use your likeness for marketing purposes forever if they so wish.

Another member of the sub wrote, “I feel like part of the genius of Lame is that he doesn’t speak, it makes him very neutral, his likeness can essentially be used to market anything, because there are no preconceived associations with him.”

What are your thoughts? Shout out in the comments below, and come back here often for all our social media news and updates.