Lil Miquela, the pioneer virtual influencer (2016): 5.5M followers, Prada and Calvin Klein. Who created her, what she earns and how to make yours free.
Brud, the Los Angeles start-up of Trevor McFedries and Sara DeCou. In 2021 it was bought by Dapper Labs, the company behind NBA Top Shot, and Miquela kept posting.
She did campaigns with Prada, Calvin Klein and Samsung. The 2019 ad in which she kissed Bella Hadid drew criticism and an apology from the brand.
Miquela needed a 3D team. You create your AI influencer free in a minute, with the same face in every photo and video.
Lil Miquela (Miquela Sousa) is a computer-made virtual influencer: a CGI character presented as a “robot” from Los Angeles. She has posted on Instagram as @lilmiquela since April 23, 2016 and, as of October 30, 2026, has 2,242,153 Instagram followers and 3.3 million on TikTok. She's the pioneer: the first virtual influencer to become famous worldwide.
She was created by Brud, the start-up of Trevor McFedries and Sara DeCou, which Dapper Labs bought in October 2021. Miquela has done campaigns with Prada (2018), Calvin Klein (2019) and Samsung (2019), has released music since 2017, and TIME named her one of the 25 most influential people on the internet in 2018. Kapwing estimated she earned $73,920 from Instagram sponsorships in the 12 months to May 2025, the second-highest virtual influencer after Lu do Magalu.
What took a 3D studio for Miquela is now done with AI. creame.ai is the all-in-one studio to create, grow and monetize AI influencers: you create her free in a minute, with her own face locked in every photo and video, and with Recreate you pick from 600+ viral templates (473 photos and 133 reels) and recreate them with her in 1 click. Keep Miquela's lesson, a clear personality and consistency, with a face that's yours alone.
Posting every day and with no paid ads, the account gained 19,505 new followers, with 2,362,610 plays and 963,014 accounts reached. — Jacson B., AMIA Academy student.
A reel of his AI model dressed as a doctor, with a hook in the caption, reached 2,096,055 views, 96.4% of them from people who didn't follow the account. — Paco H., AMIA Academy student.
The account reached 6,002,079 views in 30 days, 95.2% from non-followers, and grew to 43,599 followers; one post alone collected 28K likes and 2.2K shares. — Joel H., AMIA Academy team.
With his AI model he made several TikTok posts go viral: one reached 1,245,034 views and 115K likes, another passed 1 million with 91K likes. — Izan C., AMIA Academy student.
After coming back to the AMIA course, he got 327,998 Instagram views (95.6% non-followers) and 468K TikTok post views in two weeks. — Riuben M., AMIA Academy student.
His AI model Zarya Dark reached 100,000 Instagram followers with 175 posts and a verified account, after a lot of testing, analysis and strategy changes. — Joel H., AMIA Academy team.
Lil Miquela is a virtual influencer created in 2016 by the start-up Brud: a CGI character presented as a “robot” from Los Angeles. She has 2,242,153 Instagram followers and 3.3 million on TikTok (October 30, 2026), her own music and campaigns with brands like Prada and Calvin Klein.
No. Lil Miquela isn't a person: she's a computer-made character, so she has no “real face” and no life outside the internet. Behind her there's a team that writes her story, produces her images and closes her campaigns.
Brud, a Los Angeles start-up founded by Trevor McFedries and Sara DeCou. Her first Instagram post is from April 23, 2016.
Dapper Labs, the company behind CryptoKitties and NBA Top Shot, which bought Brud on October 4, 2021 (TechCrunch). Brud's whole team moved to Dapper Labs and kept running Miquela.
2,242,153 on Instagram (@lilmiquela) and 3.3 million on TikTok as of October 30, 2026: about 5.5 million combined.
@lilmiquela on both: instagram.com/lilmiquela, with 2,242,153 followers, and tiktok.com/@lilmiquela, with 3.3 million, as of October 30, 2026.
There are no official figures. Kapwing estimated $73,920 from Instagram sponsorships in the 12 months to May 2025, which put her second among virtual influencers, far behind Lu do Magalu. It's an estimate, not what her company has disclosed.
She was born as a CGI character, made in 3D, in 2016, years before the AI that now generates realistic photos existed. That's why she's called a virtual influencer; the ones born today with generative AI, like Aitana López, are called AI influencers.
In May 2019, Calvin Klein released an ad in which Miquela kissed model Bella Hadid. It was accused of using sexuality for views, and the brand apologized.
Prada (2018, during Milan Fashion Week), Calvin Klein (2019) and Samsung (2019), among others. In 2020 she became the first digital avatar signed by a talent agency, CAA.
Yes: she has released songs since 2017, starting with “Not Mine”. She has worked with Baauer and Teyana Taylor and, in 2026, released “Prototype” with John Liwag.
Here's how Lil Miquela did it: a personality with a story of her own (music, opinions, friends), consistency since 2016 and fashion-brand collaborations that made her news. Today she has 5.5 million followers across @lilmiquela on Instagram and TikTok. You can start today, free, with creame.ai, without the 3D studio she needed.
With creame.ai, no 3D studio, in 3 steps: 1) create her face free, with her country, age and style, in a minute; 2) make her go viral with Recreate and its 600+ templates, from 8 credits a photo; 3) post her to Instagram, TikTok, Threads and Fanvue on the Pro plan. You get 15 free credits when you sign up, no card.
No: Miquela has an owner, like any character, and copying her exposes you to claims. Create yours with her own face and her own story; what you can copy is what worked, a clear personality and posting consistently.
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