Nobody ever went broke betting on American religiosity. Or, for that matter, on American gullibility.
A Southern California tech company called Just Like Me has launched an AI-powered Jesus avatar that users can video-call for $1.99 per minute or $49.99 for a 45-minute monthly package. The avatar is visually modeled after actor Jonathan Roumie’s portrayal of Jesus in the TV series The Chosen, trained on the King James Bible and a collection of unspecified sermons, and designed, according to the company, to offer “compassionate presence” to anyone seeking guidance in daily life.
The avatar blinks slowly on a vertical screen, pauses before responding, and speaks through lips not-quite in sync across multiple languages. Glitches are included at no discount.
A Company Is Charging $1.99 a Minute for Video Calls With AI Jesus
CEO Chris Breed, who runs the company from a Southern California mansion alongside co-founder and investor Jeff Tinsley, frames the whole thing as a mission of hope. He’s also candid about the emotional dynamic he’s cultivating. “You do feel a little accountable to the AI,” Breed said. “They’re your friend. You’ve made an attachment.”
Sure. That’s one way to describe it.
The company is careful to cover its bases on the website, clarifying that Jesus AI “is not Jesus Christ himself, nor does it possess divine authority” and is not intended to replace faith, clergy, or scripture. Which raises the obvious question of what, exactly, people are paying $1.99 a minute for—but that’s between them and their wallets.
The internet, predictably, had a lot to say. “This is evil,” one person wrote on X. “You can talk to the real Jesus for free whenever you want.” Another offered a more resigned take: “1.99 a minute? Whew, getting my confessions in with Jesus also got hit by inflation.”
The launch fits into a broader and genuinely strange moment in tech, where faith-based AI products are multiplying rapidly. The landscape now includes alleged Hindu gurus, Buddhist priest chatbots, and a Catholic AI trained on 2,000 years of church information called Magisterium AI.
Not everyone in the Christian tech world is on board. Christian software engineer Cameron Pak developed criteria for evaluating faith-based apps, including that they must clearly identify themselves as AI and never fabricate scripture. His dealbreaker: “AI cannot pray for you, because the AI is not alive.”
The concerns go beyond theology. One critic drew a direct line to the televangelism era: “I grew up with Southern U.S. televangelism, Jim and Tammy Faye Bakker and all that crowd. All they had to do was get on TV once a week and tell you to send money. We’ve seen people around the world getting into emotional relationships with AIs. Now imagine that that’s your lord and savior, Jesus Christ.”
Imagine, indeed.
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