China sex toy makers cautiously embrace AI wave

Erotic chatbots, video-synced and voice-activated devices mesmerised visitors at a sex toy expo in Shanghai this weekend, as China's adult product firms join the global AI craze.

China is the world's largest producer of sex toys, and the country's entrepreneurs have fully embraced AI tools in other sectors.

Though some businesses at the trade show said they were wary of legal risks posed by machine-generated sexual content, others were keen to advertise their enhanced wares when AFP visited on Friday.

Banners scattered across the large exhibition hall advertised a Guangzhou-based company's "AI character dating" Luvmazer app, which turns conversations with virtual partners into vibrator pulses.

"One sentence can make you shiver," the banners promised.

A life-size, cyberpunk-inspired silicon doll with metal joints lay in a large vitrine at the Cydoll booth, which factory manager Zhou Yuanqing said was a prototype designed to display "natural" emotions and speech.

"People nowadays don't go out to drink or meet their friends, and they might prefer to play games on their phones or computers on their own... but they still need companionship," Zhou told AFP.

Multiple sex toy companies showed off apps that use machine learning to interpret adult videos and translate them into pressure, speed and pulse pattern changes -- features that were rare novelties just a few years ago.

"Everyone has the video syncing feature now," an employee at teledildonics firm Amorlink told AFP at the company's stand, which showcased vacuum cups equipped with powerful computing chips.

A two-in-one suction vibrator exhibited by domestic condom giant Jissbon meanwhile featured long-distance remote control capabilities, a roster of virtual "boyfriend" personas and the ability to match frequency and intensity to environmental noise levels.

Multiple businesses offered AI agents for marketing and operating offline adult stores, while others touted tech solutions for brands trying to make their own "smart" toys.

A poster for Hong Kong-based metaXsire, which did not have a booth at the expo, boasted an "adult image and video generator" and dirty talk in more than 80 languages.

The company's website says its app can swap the faces of celebrities or personal acquaintances onto pornographic videos which are then synced to its toys.

The terms and conditions of the app forbid customers to use it to shame or harass others, but did not detail how the company would ensure consent for the faceswap feature.

But multiple exhibitors present on Friday said they were cautious about mixing AI and adult video content, due to legal and privacy concerns.

Pornography is technically illegal in mainland China, and most adult video sites are blocked by the country's Great Firewall and cannot be accessed without specialised VPN software.

Sam Xie, the founder of Shanghai-based adult toy maker Magic Motion, said his products were compatible with AI agents but he had to be selective when choosing software developers to partner with.

"We have to be very careful, or there could be all sorts of problems, and we could get reported by consumers," Xie told AFP.