Poe has the goal of becoming “the YouTube of AI Bots”. Part of the thesis is that they can leverage their experience building Quora to create the infrastructure necessary to help bot creators focus on the creative parts of bot creation.

At the AGI House Poe Hackathon on Saturday, Quora CEO Adam D’Angelo stated that his goal with Poe’s new creator monetization strategy was to have bot creators be able to quit their jobs because they are making enough money on Poe. As you might imagine, this went over very well with the audience. I’m sure everyone was imagining themselves as part of a new class of creator, like being a professional YouTuber or Twitch streamer. (Sounds more fun than either of those to me!)

Poe’s strategy currently involves:

  1. Distribution: Poe ensures that its bots reach a large audience by implementing a bot recommendation system and allowing users to share chats with bots both internally and externally. They also encourage bot creators to drive traffic to their bots from outside of Poe, as this increases the likelihood of the bot being recommended on-platform.

  2. Monetization: Poe provides a way for bot creators to generate revenue by setting a price per message that the bot creator will be paid for every message to their bot, and by offering referral fees when a bot brings new users to Poe. Poe also allows bot creators to monetize their bots through alternative means, such as placing ads in their content or asking users to visit their website to make donations or payments.

  3. Costs: Poe covers all model inference costs and any other significant per-message costs involved in operating any bot on Poe. This is done by using the bot query API or by working with the bot creator to pay their model inference costs if they want to use a model that is not currently available on Poe. (This is a really big deal for individual bot creators.)

  4. Multi-platform UI: Poe ensures that users have a great, consistent experience with bots no matter what device they are on. This is achieved by having a native presence on all major platforms (Web, iOS, Android, MacOS, etc) and by taking care of login and synchronized history.

  5. Model independence: Poe allows bot creators to build their product using models from all different providers. This enables bot creators to adapt their product to use any combination of the best technologies as they are created.

I’m sure that the Poe team is already thinking about this, but I think there is one final missing piece: analytics. The only way you end up with “Mr. Beast”-level creators is by giving creators direct insight into the engagement data. For example, see how 18-year-old YouTube phenom Jenny Hoyos breaks down her “creator science”. (Spoiler alert: she literally plans everything out to the second.)

To truly become the “YouTube of AI Bots”, Poe should provide creators with a comprehensive analytics dashboard. This dashboard would allow creators to track the performance of their bots, understand user engagement, and gain insights into how their bots are being used.

Features of this dashboard could include:

  • Usage Statistics: Display the number of interactions, active users, session length, and other key metrics that help creators understand how their bots are being used.

  • Engagement Metrics: Show which parts of the bot are most engaging to users. This could include metrics like response rate, user retention, and session duration.

  • Error Logs: Provide detailed logs of any errors or issues that occur during bot interactions. This would help creators identify and fix problems in their bots.

  • User Feedback: Collect and display feedback from users. This could include ratings, reviews, and direct user feedback. At the very least, the stats on the “thumbs up” and “thumbs down” user responses.

  • Demographic Information: If appropriate and privacy-compliant, show demographic information about the users interacting with the bot. This could help creators understand their audience better and tailor their bots to user needs.

By providing these analytics and insights, Poe would empower creators to continually improve their bots, make data-driven decisions, and ultimately create better experiences for users.

Maybe I’m still sleep deprived from Saturday’s hackathon, but I think this is going to be a really big deal. I’m excited to see what the Poe team does next. I don’t think I’ll be quitting my job anytime soon, but I can’t wait to meet the first bot creator who does!


Find me on Poe! Here’s my Poe profile link and my two currently active Poe bots:

P.S. - What is your Job with a capital J?