A California-based AI startup founded by a former Google employee is making waves with a new tool that generates viral, meme-filled videos in seconds. The company, OpenArt, is led by Coco Mao, a 30-year-old entrepreneur who graduated from Hangzhou Foreign Language School and earned her undergraduate degree from Carnegie Mellon University. After working at Google for over six years, she launched OpenArt in 2022. Despite having only 10 team members, the company now generates $16 million in annual recurring revenue—equivalent to $1.6 million per employee. OpenArt recently introduced a “one-click story” feature that allows users to transform a simple text prompt, script, or even a song into a one-minute video with a clear narrative arc. The videos are designed to be highly engaging and addictive, packed with internet memes, pop culture references, and surreal visuals—what’s commonly known as “brain rot” content. These include fast-paced edits, exaggerated animations, and absurd characters like a shark wearing sneakers or a ballerina with a cappuccino for a head. The tool currently supports three video templates: character vlogs, music videos, and explainer-style content. For character vlogs, users upload a character image and input a prompt. If a song is provided, the system analyzes the lyrics and generates visuals that match the mood and theme—such as blooming flowers during a romantic verse. Users can also refine individual scenes using a storyboard editor, adjusting prompts for greater precision. OpenArt integrates over 50 AI models, including DALL·E 3, GPT, Imagen, Flux Kontext, and Stable Diffusion. A key technical challenge in AI video generation is maintaining character consistency across scenes. Many existing tools produce disjointed clips that require manual stitching. OpenArt claims to solve this by ensuring visual and narrative continuity throughout the entire video. The platform uses a credit-based pricing model with four tiers: a $14/month plan offering 4,000 credits (up to 4 one-click stories, 40 videos, 4,000 images, and 4 characters), a $30/month plan with 12,000 credits, a $56/month “unlimited” plan with 24,000 credits, and a team plan at $35 per user per month. Coco Mao says the company’s success lies in its lean, AI-driven operations. Her team uses custom AI workflows to handle millions of users, manage SEO campaigns, and process hundreds of customer emails daily—all with minimal overhead. She calls it “the blueprint for building a lean AI company,” a system she has now shared publicly after observing trends like Sam Altman’s prediction that 10-person startups could soon reach $1 billion valuations. OpenArt has raised $5 million from Basis Set Ventures and DCM Ventures. The company is cash flow positive and aims to surpass $20 million in annual revenue. Future plans include enabling multi-character dialogues and launching a mobile app. Mao’s vision is deeply personal. As a teenager, she directed a short film about a shy boy who receives a mysterious package that changes his life. The emotional impact of the film—her teachers cried during the screening—left a lasting impression. She realized that visual storytelling has the power to move people on a profound level. Each technological shift—YouTube, Instagram, TikTok—has been fueled by new tools for visual expression. Now, she believes, AI is the next frontier. Yet most current AI tools are built for asset creation, not storytelling. They produce isolated images or 5-second clips without narrative depth. Mao wants to change that—empowering anyone with a story to tell, regardless of design skills, to create emotionally resonant, complete videos with just a few words. She envisions a world where visual storytelling is as accessible as writing. “Everyone has a story that could change someone’s life,” she says. “And that story deserves to be seen.” However, the rise of such tools brings ethical challenges. Issues around copyright infringement, unauthorized style mimicry, and the potential for spreading misinformation remain serious concerns. The “character vlog” feature, for example, includes options for popular characters like Pikachu, SpongeBob, and Mario—raising potential legal risks. In past cases, Disney and Universal sued AI company Midjourney over similar concerns. OpenArt says it takes copyright seriously. When users upload protected characters, the system defaults to blocking generation. But Mao admits occasional errors occur. The company is open to working with rights holders to obtain proper licensing. Despite the risks, OpenArt is pushing forward—aiming to lower the barrier to creative expression in the age of AI.