Powered by DigitalOcean Hatch: How Ex-human uses GPU Droplets to Build Empathetic AI that Serves Customers

Hatch is DigitalOcean’s global program for startups, which provides startups with credits and discounts on computing resources so they can build and scale without worrying about costs. In 2024, Hatch significantly revamped the program to better support those building businesses in the artificial intelligence sector, providing AI/ML startups with discounts for GPU Droplets and free access to DigitalOcean’s premium support in addition to credits.

Ex-human, a startup building empathetic generative AI solutions backed by A16Z GAMES’ SPEEDRUN accelerator, chose the Hatch program to help serve their customers with AI models—read on to hear about their experience with Hatch so far.

From film to the future

Inspired by the characters Sam from Her (2013) and Joi from Blade Runner 2049 (2017), Artem Rodichev, founder and CEO of Ex-human, sought to build a future where humans interact with digital humans and characters on a daily basis, taking the form of friends, mentors, lovers, and more. After a stint at Replika, Rodichev saw that humans were building deeper connections with their AI companions and wanted to create a solution that was both viable for consumers and businesses.

Ex-human brings their AI characters to life through text, images, video, and audio with unlimited scalability and customizability that opens up possibilities for numerous use cases. Partnering with companies such as Grindr, who are using Ex-human’s technology to bring an AI wingman to life, this technology has the opportunity to help humans form stronger bonds in both physical and digital worlds.

Innovation shouldn’t come at a high cost

Building AI technology requires large amounts of computing power, which can come at a high price, especially for a new business. Ex-human chose the Hatch program because it offers exclusive pricing for access to on-demand NVIDIA H100 GPU Droplets at $1.90/GPU/hour*. Despite the favorable cost, Ex-human finds that there are no tradeoffs with power and reliability, giving them a solution that works for their budget and delivers for their needs. Ex-human uses GPU Droplets to serve their LLMs so customers can take advantage of their technology’s power.

“DigitalOcean’s GPU Droplets are great. 99% of the time, it [is] used for serving our LLMs. I don’t think we have any trouble with unavailability, network issues, or stuff like that with DigitalOcean. We found DigitalOcean to be more intuitive and simpler than working with AWS or Google Cloud. It’s simple, not expensive, and reliable.” – Artem Rodichev, Founder and CEO @ Ex-human

GPU Droplets allow for users to build, train, and scale their AI/ML workloads with ease. Through the Hatch program, you can access vast amounts of computational power without having to break the bank.

Hatch startups also receive:

• Up to $100,000 in compute credits

• Three months free of one NVIDIA H100x8 GPU Droplet

• Complimentary premium support

• GenAI usage with Hatch credits

*Note that GPU Droplet usage will not be covered by Hatch compute credits. This pricing is only eligible for startups who are a part of the Hatch program, only applies to on-demand NVIDIA H100 GPU Droplets, and is accurate as of 3/7/2025. Pricing is subject to change.

Musings from the founder

As a founder, Rodichev uses his deep expertise in AI/ML to guide Ex-human’s business and vision. While leading product development, he works alongside a talented team handling engineering, marketing, sales, investor relations, and everything in between. It’s hard work, but it’s deeply rewarding.

Rodichev: “My number one advice–don’t start a startup. [laughs] The number two advice–do it if that’s the only thing you can do. If you really have a chip on your shoulder, if you really want to change the world in a way that you see how the world will develop, if you really want to build this kind of feature and no one else can build it, go start a startup.”

The simplicity and reliability of DigitalOcean’s products affords founders like Rodichev to focus on things outside of managing their product’s infrastructure so they can build the future at full speed.

Interested in joining the Hatch program to grow your startup? Visit do.co/hatch to learn more about the program and apply or contact our team at hatch@digitalocean.com with any questions.

Hatch, DigitalOcean’s global program for startups, is committed to helping AI/ML startups by providing infrastructure credits and discounts, free access to premium support, a welcoming community of builders, and so much more so founders can focus on what’s important–building technology that changes the world.