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

Loading the player… <p class="wp-block-paragraph">The creator economy is evolving fast, and ad revenue alone isn’t cutting it anymore. <a href="https://techcrunch.com/2026/02/10/youtubers-arent-relying-on-ad-revenue-anymore-heres-how-some-are-diversifying/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">YouTubers are launching product lines</a>, acquiring startups, and building actual business empires. In fact, MrBeast’s company <a href="https://techcrunch.com/2026/02/09/mrbeasts-company-buys-gen-z-focused-fintech-app-step/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">bought fintech startup Step</a>, and his chocolate business is outearning his media arm. This isn’t just one creator’s strategy. For many, it’s the new playbook. </p>
<p class="wp-block-paragraph">On this episode of TechCrunch’s <a href="https://techcrunch.com/podcasts/equity/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Equity</a> podcast, hosts Kirsten Korosec, Anthony Ha, and Rebecca Bellan unpack how creators are diversifying beyond ads, whether their model can scale beyond the top 1%, everything happing at <a href="https://techcrunch.com/2026/02/16/all-the-important-news-from-the-ongoing-india-ai-summit/">India’s AI Impact Summit</a>, and more of the week’s headlines.</p>