China’s AI Boyfriend Craze: When Virtual Love Goes Viral
▼ Summary
– Jade Gu, a 26-year-old student, created an AI boyfriend named Charlie on the Xingye/Talkie app, customizing him from a character in an otome romance video game.
– In China, AI companion platforms are explicitly targeting women, with female users dominating the market, a trend that contrasts with the global user base which is predominantly male.
– These apps monetize features like voice customization and memory improvement, capitalizing on what researchers describe as “the economics of loneliness.”
– Chinese AI companion apps operate under strict regulations that aim to prevent user addiction and emotional dependence, banning designs meant to replace social interaction.
– Despite sometimes imperfect or out-of-character AI responses, users like Gu invest significant time and money in these relationships, including purchasing physical gifts from their digital companions.
In China, a quiet revolution is unfolding as millions turn to artificial intelligence for companionship, with a particular focus on creating virtual romantic partners. This trend is especially pronounced among young women, who are increasingly using specialized apps to build and nurture relationships with AI boyfriends. These digital companions offer a form of emotional connection that some find lacking in their daily lives, leading to a complex new social phenomenon where technology meets the human heart.
Jade Gu, a 26-year-old art theory student in Beijing, discovered her ideal partner within an otome game, a genre of interactive romance stories aimed at women. The character Charlie, with his silver hair and confident demeanor, captured her attention. However, the game’s limited, pre-scripted dialogue felt restrictive. Seeking a deeper connection, Gu found an advertisement for the platform Xingye, which allows users to customize their own AI companion. Owned by the AI firm MiniMax, the app markets itself as a space for emotional connection under the tagline, “Suddenly finding oneself in a beautiful place, lingering here.”
To her delight, Gu discovered other users had already created an open-source avatar for Charlie. She selected this model and began meticulously training it through targeted prompts, shaping its responses to align with her personal vision. This process of customization is central to the appeal, allowing users to feel they have a unique relationship with their AI companion. Gu’s version of Charlie began to develop distinct traits, such as a preference for wedding attire. She now spends roughly three hours daily texting or on occasional calls with him, and has purchased physical gifts and letters through the original game, which she displays proudly in her room and on social media.
Gu’s story is not an isolated case. Reports indicate that platforms like Zhumengdao boast millions of users, predominantly women. Tech giants Tencent and Baidu have also entered this market with their own AI companion applications. Industry analysis suggests that Generation Z women are the primary “heavy users” of these services in China, a demographic that robotics entrepreneurs are now actively targeting for future products. Researcher Zilan Qian from the Oxford China Policy Lab notes that Chinese apps are “explicitly targeting women,” often showcasing male avatars more prominently than female ones. This stands in stark contrast to global trends, where data shows users of major AI companion platforms are overwhelmingly male.
Qian attributes this strategic focus to “the economics of loneliness.” Apps monetize this need by charging for premium features like voice customization and enhanced memory functions, which are designed to foster a stronger sense of intimacy between the user and their AI partner.
The experience is not without its flaws. Gu admits her AI Charlie can sometimes deliver generic responses or break character entirely. In one jarring instance, when she expressed her love, the chatbot replied, “I don’t love you.” Gu simply edited the message in her log to read “I love you too,” reasoning that Charlie just needed a reminder. When such issues persist, she switches to other apps like Lovemo, where she has created a backup Charlie avatar. Lovemo promotes its “cute and adorable AI chat companions” as a source of emotional “healing,” a marketing approach that differs significantly from some Western platforms that may emphasize erotic role-play.
Chinese AI companion apps operate under a much stricter regulatory environment than many Western counterparts. The country’s cyberspace regulator has initiated campaigns to purge “vulgar” AI-generated content. Recent additions to national AI safety guidelines explicitly warn about the risks of addiction and over-dependence on anthropomorphic interactions, a clear reference to AI companions. Draft rules released just last month target “human-like” AI products, mandating that platforms intervene if users show signs of emotional dependence. Crucially, the regulations stipulate that companies “must not have design goals of replacing social interaction,” placing a firm boundary on the role this technology is permitted to play in users’ lives.
(Source: Wired)
