✨ A field Guide to China's AI Consumer Goods Part 2 | Following the Yuan

AI (sex) companionship, AI pet translator, AI tarot sticker

Hi, it’s Yaling. Thank you so much for tuning in to part one of the field guide. Today we continue with more AI consumer products.

I have to say, I have been slightly out of the loop in emerging tech since leaving my full-time role as a tech reporter at SCMP a few years ago. But you’ll definitely see more coverage about the intersection of AI and consumer over here as AI starts feeling more tangible in the Chinese consumer psyche and in everyday consumer culture.

Also, if you haven’t, this is the last day of the reader survey. I really hope you can take a few minutes to complete this, which would mean a great deal to us.

Until next time.

03 Entertainment & Companionship

🤖 Bionic Humanoid Robots

Liaode Technology E1 “Yiyi”

Liaode Technology, a Shanghai-based robotics startup, has introduced a full-sized ultra-bionic walking companion with an anthropomorphic aesthetic. Anchored by an intelligent high-fidelity head and integrated AI large language models, the robot is capable of empathetic, multilingual dialogue spanning diverse regional dialects.

• Price: Quoted at WAIC for: ¥248,000

Yaling’s verdict: The buzz of humanoid robots started with Unitree at the beginning of 2025. After almost two years of an arms race, in China, it can be foreseen that the first mainstream user scenario of bionic humanoid robots may be sex companionship.

In the Chinese market — where systems and rules are conventionally built to support the male — sex companionship is respected as a genuine user need. (When the Economist put it to introduce their recent podcast about China’s manosphere, it says: “China is also home to a large number of traditionally minded men whose views on gender are supported by the Chinese government.”)