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

Powered by DigitalOcean Hatch: How Ex-human uses GPU Droplets to Build Empathetic AI that Serves Customers From film to the future Innovation shouldn’t come at a high cost Musings from the founder About the author Try DigitalOcean for free Related Articles Hacktoberfest 2025 Comes to a Close Hacktoberfest 2025: How to Participate Hacktoberfest 2025: Celebrate All Things Open Source! By Martin Nguyen Updated: November 21, 2025 3 min read GPU Droplets are now DigitalOcean GradientAI GPU Droplets. Learn more about DigitalOcean GradientAI , our suite of AI products. 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. 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. 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.