Jean Phil, Benjamin Stachio and the rise of AI-made 'celebrities': the new trend fooling the internet, explained

If you scrolled your feed in recent weeks, you probably ran into Jean Phil: a man in a suit with a blonde bob and a curled mustache, silently shadowboxing in unlikely spots around Paris. The videos started circulating on Instagram in mid-September, and one of them topped 35.9 million views, according to LADbible. The catch: Jean Phil doesn't exist. He is an entirely AI-generated character.

The reveal disappointed some followers, but the story took another turn when it was tied to a digital coin, the JEANPHIL token. Dexerto reported that on September 25 the coin had a market cap of around $8.8 million and the account had more than 228,000 followers; LADbible says the token had already lost over 99% of its value hours after peaking on September 21. The success spawned copycats such as Archibald Brown, who passed 110,000 followers with the same kind of video.

The latest sensation is Benjamin Stachio, the 'triple-mustache man' with an absurdly thick neck who went viral dancing in a bar. On September 30, outlets confirmed he is also an AI creation, as is the music in his videos.

The formula repeats itself: a look odd enough to become a meme, recurring visual gags and even 'rivalries' between fictional characters. For viewers, the lesson is the usual one online: not every influencer who goes viral is a real person.