Today, let's talk about a very punk AI business.
Everyone knows that nowadays, every company is riding the AI hype. SMS companies claim to be AI customer service, PPT makers say they're AI office tools.
But believe it or not? In the US, even God has started an AI transformation, and recently completed an IPO.
And the driving force behind it is the company we're talking about, Gloo.
Gloo calls itself a "Christian tech platform," providing AI tools and digital content to churches and nonprofits. Its product Bible Chat is the fastest-growing religious app globally. In just one year since launch, it has reached 10 million users and $15 million in annual revenue.
On the US iOS free charts, Bible Chat has even occasionally outranked giants like Amazon and Facebook.
Since listing on November 19, Gloo's stock has risen 18.75%, with a current market cap of $747 million.
Today, let's talk about this "weird" AI listed company.
/ 01 /
Madness with 224 Mentions of "AI"
In the US, religion has never been a "powered by love" charity; it's a solid trillion-dollar track.
Here's some data to scare you:
In 2024, US religious organizations generated $245 billion in revenue. Moreover, with an 8.6% CAGR in recent years, it crushes the average service industry level.
Even more outrageous is the penetration rate. The US has 19,500 towns and villages, but 415,000 Christian organizations.
What does this mean? On average, 20 churches per village waiting to save you. This density is crazier than convenience stores in Shanghai, more cutthroat than Mixue Bingcheng.
In this red ocean market, Gloo started as a "church version of DingTalk" for SMS blasts and outsourcing. By July this year, the Gloo platform has bound over 140,000 churches and ministry leaders.
When the AI wave hit, Gloo suddenly had an epiphany and decided to go into "cyber religion." To raise more money for IPO, Gloo did something "insane" in its prospectus:
The full text mentions "artificial intelligence" (AI) 224 times.
Those who don't know might think it's NVIDIA or OpenAI's earnings report.
To make the story round, Gloo activated "cash power" mode, acquiring two AI religion companies from September 2024 to January 2025, basically one per quarter.
Its strategy is simple and brutal: Self-R&D is too slow; buy whoever has proven the business model.
The most famous is Faith Assistant (product Bible Chat), acquired in January this year.
This thing is basically ChatGPT for religion. Before acquisition, it was a startup product, but the data is insanely strong:
According to February data this year, Bible Chat reached 10 million users and $15 million annual revenue in just one year since launch. It's not only the fastest-growing mobile app in all categories in Europe but also the fastest globally in religious apps.
On US iOS free charts, it has even occasionally beaten giants like Amazon and Facebook.
What does this app do? Simply put, it's an "AI pastor."
▲ Bible Chat
You feel emo at 3 AM, heart heavy, want someone to talk to. Before, you'd have to drag the pastor out of bed; now no need. Open Bible Chat—it's powered by ChatGPT but "blessed" (fine-tuned).
It can pray with you, guide Bible reading, even generate "personalized devotion plans." AI: "The Lord says, do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own... (here's the relevant Matthew scripture for you) Check in after reading to log your devotion time~"
Besides buying ready-made C-end AI apps, Gloo invested in a platform called Visitor Reach.
This one's even wilder. It solves churches' biggest headache: user acquisition.
It uses AI for ad targeting. If someone clicks and shows interest, AI impersonates a pastor to chat with you. Users can choose tone: "encouraging" warm guy style or "info-dense" nerd style? AI auto-generates "pastor-style" responses.
When you think you're having a soulful talk with a kind pastor, it's actually code crunching data like crazy.
Of course, Gloo isn't just shopping spree outside; it's hands-on too.
For example, Gloo developed its own AI assistant that cites faith resources and supports multi-turn chats, currently in testing.
External AIs hallucinate, might mix Bible with Harry Potter. But Gloo uses RAG (Retrieval-Augmented Generation).
Simply: Before answering, AI must search Gloo's designated "truth library," speak only after retrieving. This is "authorized answering," no theological errors.
Even sneakier, it supports "white-label deployment." Meaning: Sell semi-finished AI assistants to churches/institutions; they slap their logo, becomes their exclusive AI.
To nail this product, they invited former Intel CEO Pat Gelsinger as Gloo's CTO and Executive Chairman, leading virtual assistant and faith-aligned LLM development.
Thus, Gloo transformed from a SMS package tool vendor to an AI platform "monopolizing faith interpretation."
/ 02 /
Revenue Growth All from "Buy Buy Buy"
By now, you might wonder: Why desperately ride AI when the religion market is so huge?
The reason is simple: no money. Religion has lots of money, but extracting it from churches is harder than climbing to heaven.
Why? Church money is essentially "tithes," from pastors' charisma and community vibe. Outsiders can't cut in!
This left Gloo struggling before 2024. Wanted to be a platform, SaaS, but no takers.
Its monetization? Laughable, two tricks:
First, PR for Jesus. Took on the "He Gets Us" mega-project.
What's that? Rich bigwigs think youth don't like Jesus anymore, so dump $100M to package him as trendy, inclusive "nice guy."
Gloo handles backend support/tech. In 2023, Gloo earned $21.29M total revenue; this project alone $13.33M. Tech company? More like Jesus' 4A ad agency.
Second, shell game. Foundations donate to Gloo, Gloo redistributes to small churches—on condition they buy Gloo software.
Overall, pre-2024 Gloo was a "kept man" living off bigwig handouts.
If you think that's the end, you underestimate capital. In 2024, Gloo woke up:
Can't make good products? Just buy them!
Thus, insane "buy buy buy" mode, turning itself into a "church Taobao + DingTalk" Frankenstein.
Shopping cart: Besides AI religion,
- Outreach (church Taobao): Need event stuff? Banners, posters, flyers—we got 'em. Hard currency, buy and monetize. Contributes 1/3 of Gloo revenue.
- Church Law & Tax (church legal dept): Render unto God what is God's, Caesar's to Caesar. But IRS must be IRS. Teaches compliance, payroll, tax avoidance.
- Masterworks & Igniter (full marketing): Former does fundraising strategy—how to get believers to pay; latter short video content for TikTok virality.
Gloo's no longer outsourcing; building "church OS," covering acquisition (marketing), engagement (AI interaction), conversion (fundraising), logistics (materials, tax).
This tiger-like move actually won big for Gloo.
By July 2025, not even a year in, revenue hit $28.48M, up 168.7% YoY.
Even: Half-year revenue exceeds last full year.
/ 03 /
Summary
See, business endgame is often mysticism; mysticism's endgame is still business.
Whether AI replaces humans? TBD. But it can totally handle "God customer service."
Gloo aims to upgrade primitive religion—held by "favors," "charisma," "community"—to data, targeting, SaaS-driven modern business machine.
After 10+ years in religion biz, Gloo grasped the ultimate truth:
Better sell pastors a "scythe" than teach preaching.
After all, faith is free. But in AI era, bandwidth to faith can be paid.
This is the cyberpunk gospel.
By Lin Bai