Podcast Summary: James Reed: All About Business

Episode 47: Is this platform a new era beyond OnlyFans?: Innovation VS ethical responsibility | Felix Henderson
Date: October 13, 2025
Host: James Reed
Guest: Felix Henderson, Founder of "O"

Overview

In this episode, James Reed sits down with Felix Henderson, entrepreneur and founder of "O" — a UK-based AI startup creating digital "twins" of content creators, particularly in the NSFW (Not Safe For Work) space. The conversation delves deep into how generative AI is transforming digital content, the ethical challenges around consent and moderation, the business model behind AI-powered creator platforms, and the delicate balance between innovation and social responsibility.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. What is "O" and What Does It Do?

• [01:49] Felix Henderson introduces "O" as a generative AI business working with digital creators. The offering sits in two main forms:
  • B2C platform "Ochat": An AI version of OnlyFans where users interact with the digital twins of real creators.
  • B2B API: Allows other businesses to embed these AI-powered interactions and experiences into their own platforms.
• "We call them digital twins ... digital replicas of the real-world content creator." [03:19]

The Creation of Digital Twins

• Consent and licensing agreements are core. Creators supply imagery (clothed and unclothed, at varying "levels"), and voice samples to train their AI twin.
• Creators can select their comfort level (clothed, partial nudity, full nudity, etc.).
• Voice, backstory, and personality are modeled from creator-submitted content.
• "It's all consensual ... licensing agreements ... between us as the platform and the individual represented." [04:53]

2. Use Cases, Value Proposition, and Monetization

• Scalability for creators: Unlike OnlyFans, where creators are bandwidth-limited, AI twins can interact with unlimited fans simultaneously — creating a scalable income asset.

• [06:37] "Their work goes on at the start when we make the twin, but they're not involved day to day."

• Auto-onboarding and Scale: Soon, existing NSFW creators will be able to verify their identity, upload assets, and deploy a twin with no human intervention.

  • "Within four or five weeks ... you verify your identity, your age ... and our software will train your digital twin automatically." [09:06]

• Revenue Model:

  • Creators receive 80% of net revenue, platform retains 20% after covering generation costs.
  • Users subscribe per character (average: £9.99/month).
  • B2B API is charged per-use (e.g., $0.01 per generated message).
  • "Creator gets 80% of the net revenue, we take 20% ... the cost of generation is pretty nominal." [33:02]

3. Content Moderation, Ethics, and Social Responsibility

• Content moderation is both a selling point and major challenge.
• Felix explains that O's models are trained with guardrails to block illegal or harmful content (e.g., underage, non-consensual).
• "All of the content that's generated on the site is generated from our models ... we can moderate content at source." [17:37]
• Age verification is required before accessing adult content (via third-party tools like Yoti).

Ethical Questions

• Discussion on possible social isolation and addiction:

  • AI twins don't have persistent long-term memory, limiting relationship "addiction" for now.
  • Recognized some users might 'lose themselves’ but also points out benefits for social confidence, expression, etc.
  • "I don't think we can ever eliminate the risk ... but sometimes people feel more comfortable talking to ... a machine." [25:13]

• On posthumous or "immortal" digital twins:

  • Felix acknowledges this is "dangerous territory," with philosophical implications. [53:32]
  • "Through the use of AI, we can bring back those content experiences that existed 20 years ago … that don’t anymore." [51:51]

4. User Base, Trends, and Data

• Currently ~250,000-300,000 users after 9 months, 25-person (mostly remote) team.
• 80% of users are men; male users prefer visual and text, while audio engagement is higher with male digital twins.
  • "Men are a large chunk of our user base ... about 80%." [20:04]
• Top creators: Carmen Electra, Jordan/Katie Price, and social media personalities with large followings (e.g., Isabuscemi).
• "We often see [AI-generated] content gets better interaction ... users can’t tell the difference." [23:08]

5. Platform Challenges and Growth

• Marketing is restricted by advertising policies on Meta, Google; relies heavily on creators' own promotion and affiliate marketers.
  • "[We] can't serve Google Ads ... so we have to be a little bit smarter about the way in which we grow." [14:17]
• Scaling operations by automating digital twin creation.
• Regulatory pressures: Age verification (esp. under UK’s Online Safety Act), copyright, and consent laws (e.g., Denmark).
• Venture-backed ($10M raised), with major backers from crypto and AI space given "vice clauses" exclude many VC funds.

6. The Origin Story

• Felix and his co-founder formed their partnership helping charities during COVID, then launched a marketing agency (“LookAfter”) before pivoting into AI and adult content due to strategic market analysis.
  • "If we were going to do something, where would we do it? We knew it would be AI." [46:10]

7. Future Vision: The Next Era

• Innovation underway: Upcoming features include video models for more immersive AI character experiences.
• "Very soon, within a couple of years, you’ll get to a stage where people will be able to create, you know, two, three, four minute long videos of anything that they want." [54:11]
• Felix’s motivation: "The feeling that we're doing something that can genuinely change the world and revolutionize an industry.” [55:49]
• Five-year vision: To do for AI creators what OnlyFans did for content monetization — become the industry standard and a household name. [56:57]

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On scalability and AI:
  • "Our digital twins can be having 2,000 simultaneous conversations at any one time with thousands of people ... it's an ultimately scalable asset." — Felix [06:37]
• On quality and realism:
  • "Some of our creators are using and selling some of their AI content that's produced from our models on their OnlyFans ... users can't tell the difference." — Felix [23:08]
• On moderation and safety:
  • "We can moderate content at source ... so you can't create underage content, you can't create violent content ... purely because of how we've trained the AI." — Felix [17:37]
• On social and psychological impact:
  • "Sometimes people feel more comfortable talking to and expressing emotions ... to a machine than ... in the real world." — Felix [25:13]
• On the rapid evolution and future of AI platforms:
  • "It's going to be crazy. It's going to be hyper personalized ... and served to you now in instant gratification." — Felix [55:07]
• On ethical frontiers:
  • "Through use of AI, we can bring back those content experiences that existed 20 years ago that don’t anymore ... a sort of weird immortality." — James [53:14]

Timestamps for Key Segments

| Timestamp | Topic/Segment | |-----------|-------------------------------------| | 01:49 | Introduction to O and business model| | 03:19 | Creation of digital twins | | 06:37 | Scale and business logic | | 09:06 | Automated onboarding process | | 13:52 | Discoverability and marketing | | 17:37 | Content moderation and ethical guardrails | | 20:04 | User demographics and analytics | | 33:02 | Subscription and revenue split | | 36:20 | Regulatory & age verification | | 41:18 | Challenges of staying ahead in AI | | 46:10 | Founders’ origin story | | 51:51 | User value vs. OnlyFans | | 53:14 | Philosophical/ethical frontiers | | 55:49 | Felix’s motivation for the business | | 56:57 | Five-year vision |

Conclusion

Felix Henderson’s appearance on "All About Business" offers a candid, thoughtful, and at times provocative insight into the evolving intersection of AI, content creation, and ethical entrepreneurship. The episode navigates complex territory: the promise (and peril) of AI in adult entertainment, user psychology, the business mechanics of scalable intimacy, and what it means to innovate responsibly in a sensitive sector. Both Reed and Henderson maintain a tone of constructive curiosity, pushing listeners to consider big questions about technology, society, and where the boundaries of “real” and “digital” will lie in the next era.