2026 already has its first milestone in the history of streaming: for the first timethe channel with the highest number of active subscribers on Twitch does not belong to a human creator. Neuro-sama, a VTuber generated entirely by artificial intelligencereached 162,459 active subscribers at the beginning of the year, dethroning all flesh-and-blood streamers on the platform. This figure places the channel vedal987from where Neuro-sama emits, in an unprecedented position: an artificial entity that surpasses established rivals in paying audiences.
More human than humans. The origin of Neuro-sama dates back to 2019, when the British developer known as Vedal designed an artificial intelligence system initially aimed at running games of the rhythm video game ‘osu!’. Three years later, in December 2022, the project evolved into its current format: a VTuber that combines multiple technological layers to simulate the presence and activities of a human streamer. According to its creator, Neuro-sama’s visual infrastructure is developed in C# using the Unity engine, while the artificial intelligence systems work in Python.
It is expressed. Neuro-sama’s architecture rests on a LLM (Large Language Model), technology that processes billions of parameters to generate coherent conversations in real time. These models form the basis of chatbots such as ChatGPT, Google Gemini or Microsoft Copilot, and operate by predicting sequences of words according to patterns learned during their training. Added to this conversational core are voice synthesis systems that generate the characteristic high-pitched tonality, and an avatar animated using Live2D technology that reacts visually to interactions. The result is a digital entity capable of maintaining dialogues, playing video games and responding to chat without direct human intervention during broadcasts.
Audience records. Neuro-sama’s upward trajectory in terms of viewership is completely unusual. In January 2025, during its second annual “subathon” (a continuous broadcast format whose duration depends on subscriptions received), the channel set a world record by reaching level 111 on Twitch’s Hype Train system, an indicator that measures the intensity of subscriptions and donations over concentrated periods of time. That milestone, which surpassed the 106 levels of the previous record, seemed difficult to match.
However, just eleven months later, in December 2025, Neuro-sama pulverized its own brand. The channel completed a level 120 Hype Trainaccumulating 118,989 subscriptions and 1,000,073 bits in a limited period of time. This figure makes vedal987 the only channel that has managed to break the global Hype Train record twice in a row, a distinction that earned him a global Twitch emote usable by any user of the platform.
You peel them. lThe economic implications are notable. According to data from TwitchTracker, with 162,459 active subscribers and applying Twitch’s standard revenue split (which varies depending on individual agreements, but is usually around 50% for the creator), the channel would generate approximately $400,000 per month exclusively from subscriptions, not counting direct donations, additional bits or advertising deals. Currently, vedal987 occupies the 3rd place in the historical ranking of channels with the most Twitch subscriptions.
He has a sister. In March 2023, Evil Neuro was born, presented as the “twin sister” of the original character. Vedal conceived this second entity so that Neuro-sama could interact with herself, but the project resulted in a differentiated personality with its own voice, visual model, and behavior. Both AIs have transcended the streaming format: in December 2022, Neuro-sama premiered ‘LIFE‘, his first original song. In August 2024 both launched ‘NEVER‘, the first duet between the two entities.
The problems. The phenomenon has problematic antecedents: Nothing, Forevera series inspired by Seinfeld and generated entirely by algorithms, was suspended from Twitch after making transphobic comments. The Rubius experimented Similar dilemmas with DegenerIAa channel where ChatGPT controlled all conversations. In fact, one of the DegenerIA characters made derogatory comments about the streamer Pokimane, showing that automatic moderation systems do not always filter inappropriate content. Neuro-sama herself faced a temporary ban in 2023 for controversial statements, a reminder that the conversational autonomy of these systems carries risks.
The rise of VTubers with AI. Conventional VTubers, until now, were humans controlling virtual avatars in real time through facial and body motion capture systems. Hololive, the Japanese agency that dominates this sector, manages figures such as Gawr Gura, whose YouTube channel exceeds four million subscribers. These creators choose to represent themselves through animated characters for reasons ranging from protecting privacy to building digital identities. Neuro-sama represents a qualitative leap: here there is no human behind the avatar.
The VTuber industry has experienced sustained growth that YouTube quantified like this: Between 2022 and 2024, VTubers-related content generated an average of 50 billion views annually on the platform. The market for tools to produce this type of content has also become democratized: platforms such as Akool, HeyGen and VTube Studio allow creators without advanced technical knowledge to generate interactive avatars with a very small investment.
Doubts about the future. What is clear is that this boom of technology-driven VTubers is full of imbalances. Continuous broadcasting without the need for rest gives these entities a structural advantage over human streamers who need to sleep, eat or simply disconnect. The question of whether this constitutes unfair competition or simply technological evolution remains without a clear answer.
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