Tai was born in Taipei, Taiwan and was later adopted by an American family in Arkansas when she was five months old. As a result, she has dual nationality. She attended the University of Arkansas.

Tai married adult film actor Steven Scott, who performs under the name Mark Davis, in 1997. The couple divorced in 1999, though she continues to use the name Carla Scott.

In 2000, she left the industry, announcing that she was expecting her first child. She had a son, born sometime late 2000 to early 2001. She returned to pornography in December 2001; her last film was Jenna Loves Kobe with Jenna Jameson. Since then, Tai has disappeared from the industry and is presumed to have left it behind permanently.

Along with Asia Carrera, she is regarded as one of the top Asian female porn stars of all time.

She broke into the porn industry in 1996, under the names Blake Young and Brooke Young before adopting the name Kobe Tai. She is signed to Vivid Entertainment as an exclusive performer, and was the first Asian Vivid contract girl. Some of Tai's notable early works are "Executions on Butt Row" (with Sean Michaels), and "Vivid Raw #2" with Alex Sanders, her first Vivid production. She is particularly popular for her interracial and lesbian scenes.

During her years as a porn star, Kobe Tai was notorious for putting a great amount of enthusiasm and energy into her scenes, which is very notable in some of her earlier work.

In addition to her roles in adult films, Tai appeared in the mainstream movie Very Bad Things as a stripper who was accidentally killed at a bachelor party.

Tai also appeared in the skateboarding video 'The End'. The video was produced by Tony Hawk's skateboarding company, Birdhouse, and also featured several other porn stars in the same segment Tai was in.

Also, she has made appearances on The Man Show and The Helmetcam Show. Tai also did background vocals for Marilyn Manson's song, "I Don't Like the Drugs, But the Drugs Like Me", on the album Mechanical Animals.