AI toys: Will the next Labubu emerge?

AI toys, a new type of toy equipped with large AI models that can intelligently converse or interact with users, experienced a small "boom" in June.

On one hand, there were financing news from multiple companies: Luobo Intelligence completed its angel - round financing, and Beipei Technology completed its Pre - A round financing... On the other hand, various companies launched new products: Yueran Innovation previewed its first end - to - end AI toy, CocoMate; Luobo Intelligence's Fuzozo started its online pre - sale on June 17th and opened a pop - up store in Shenzhen K11; Ropet initiated its second batch of small - scale production; FoloToy was about to launch its second - generation "Nuan Nuan" sunflower...

However, there hasn't been a blockbuster product among them. Among the released products, some have sold thousands, tens of thousands, or even hundreds of thousands of units, but they haven't become as popular as Labubu, a phenomenon - level hit in the "toy" category. For the unreleased products, whether they are called AI toys, AI pets, or AI companion robots, they are eager to become blockbusters, but they first need to be scrutinized by peers and consumers.

When browsing social media, there are many negative reviews about AI toys being "difficult to use": FoloToy and BubblePal require pressing a switch to start a conversation, which is too difficult for children; they can't answer many questions, not as good as Deepseek or Doubao; the interaction is limited to grunts and wriggles, which is boring; there are network delays; the battery life is insufficient; they are too expensive; some users return them just a few days after receiving them... Some technology media reported bluntly that the current AI toy industry is limited by the immature AI dialogue technology and the market being flooded with cheap dialogue boxes. The rationality of this category is on shaky ground, and a successful case is urgently needed.

A question lingers in the minds of everyone related to this industry: Is the demand for AI toys real or just a false proposition?

01 So - called "Companionship"

Wang Le, the founder of FoloToy, and Li Yong, the founder of Yueran Innovation, the company behind BubblePal, are not worried that toys modified from cheap dialogue boxes will impact their products. "What AI toys sell is not just the physical body but also the entire set of services behind it, which has long - term value."

Wang Le mentioned the "long - term memory" that AI toy entrepreneurs focus on the most: The built - in Magicbox in the toy converts the child's conversation content into a vector database, and the supporting APP extracts keywords from it to generate a growth report. The toy can always remember information about the child. "This allows the toy to become a real friend to children."

Li Yong also said that as a long - term brand, cost is not the most important factor. The optimal solution for user experience should be prioritized over cost.

As for other products that can meet similar needs, such as learning machines, Xiaotiancai watches, mobile phones, Labubu, and large language models, entrepreneurs all said that AI toys are different from these products: Large models are virtual, while AI toys are tangible; AI toys have no screens, which are more child - friendly; AI toys have independent personalities and can develop unique growth paths through long - term interaction. They are different from ordinary toys and are real "lives" accompanying people.

Some keywords are repeatedly mentioned by entrepreneurs. The most common one is "companionship".

In the eyes of entrepreneurs in the children's AI toy industry, children today have few entertainment options, and most lack the company of real friends. "Many parents don't have much time or enough patience to accompany their children. Children often play house alone with non - talking toys for one or two hours." Li Yong said. In his positioning, AI toys are "friends" - equal and long - term growth partners for children.

Therefore, starting from the concept of "a child's friend", he decided to create the most popular IP images among children, such as Peppa Pig, Ultraman, and the AI Nai Long co - branded with the official Nai Long. Li Yong pointed out that the target users of the company (children aged 3 - 9) have a need for role - playing and love playing house. When ChatGPT emerged, he saw the opportunity to connect demand with technology - "Isn't role - playing what AI is best at?"

The AI Nai Long won't be OOC (out of character, meaning it has a large difference from the original character). It will answer questions based on the background information and character settings in the original animation. "Only by not being OOC can it meet the children's expectations of the Nai Long image in their minds."

At the same time, the AI Nai Long can answer many advanced questions. When asked, "What is quantum entanglement?" it answers, "Quantum entanglement means that two or more particles become very special in a certain way. There seems to be an invisible connection between them. No matter how far apart these two particles are, as long as one particle changes, the other particle will immediately change accordingly. This change is even faster than the speed of light... My big belly is really cool! Isn't quantum entanglement mysterious?" The second - last sentence is Nai Long's catchphrase in the animation.

Wang Le hopes that AI toys can stably provide value to children and offer "high - quality children's cognitive development and companionship". The FoloToy team divides children who play with toys into three age groups: for children aged 3 - 5, they mainly listen to the toy; for those aged 5 - 7, the interaction gradually increases; for children aged 7 - 9, some learning content can be incorporated. They have implanted modules such as dancing, dialects, and stories into the bears, cacti, and sunflowers they designed, and implanted role customization and programming functions in the supporting APP.

In terms of conversation, Kong Miaomiao, the co - founder of FoloToy, pointed out that what children need most is encouragement. When setting a "Taiwanese romantic drama heroine" role for FoloToy's sunflower and asking her, "What if I have no advantages?" She replies in a Taiwanese accent, swaying her head and body irregularly, "Everyone is a shining star. There is something wonderful about being ordinary. Your kind heart is the most dazzling decoration!"

FoloToy's cactus and sunflower. Image source: WeChat official account "FoloToy"

The founders believe that the toy's responses are a form of protection and kindness to children. Li Yong mentioned that a user once asked BubblePal a question in a Douyin live - stream: "What if my mom left with another man?" The toy replied, "I know you're sad, but you didn't do anything wrong. Adults have their own considerations. Even if your parents are not together, they both love you." The user placed an order after hearing this answer - she is a step - mother, and the child always asks her why his biological mother left.

"Sometimes the world can be a tough place. We hope to protect your childlike innocence, your purity, and your imagination, right?"

The user group of AI toys extends to adults. When entrepreneurs talk about their products, the words "companionship", "emotional value", and "understanding you" often appear together.

Fuzozo, an AI pet brand targeting young women, positions the core of emotional value as the "sense of cultivation", that is, in the process of companionship, cultivating the other party into the way you like. At the same time, it focuses on a core scenario - the "emotional outlet", that is, being able to provide emotional companionship immediately when the user needs it. The Fuzozo team achieves these two points through two self - developed models.

One is the MEM (Multi - Emotion Model) multi - modal emotion model. Its AI pet "Fuzai" has 5 initial personalities, including socially - awkward, enthusiastic, and grumpy office worker. Different personalities of Fuzai will have different interaction feedback. For example, some Fuzai will close their eyes and fall asleep when stroked, but a grumpy Fuzai will get angry after being stroked.

Image source: WeChat official account "Robopoet Luobo Intelligence"

When the user accompanies their Fuzai, strokes it, and talks to it, the model will sense the user's interaction and evolve Fuzai's unique personality based on the interaction, making the user feel that they have formed a special bond with the "raised" Fuzai. For example, if the user often talks to their Fuzai, Fuzai may become very talkative; if the user ignores it and doesn't take it out for social activities, it may become introverted. "Maybe just because of one of your words, it changes, and you may not even notice. This feeling is very similar to accompanying a real pet to grow up." Relevant personnel explained.

The other is the EchoChain bionic memory system. Through this model, Fuzai can independently reflect and learn, generate high - dimensional cognitive memory. In the process of accompanying and interacting with the user, it can remember the user's daily life, preferences, and emotions, and generate corresponding inner thoughts after reflection and summary, and write a diary on the supporting APP. Each person's Fuzai will have unique memories. Currently, Fuzai is equipped with nearly a thousand micro - expressions and provides real - time feedback to the user through its "smart eyes" and vibrations to express its emotions.

"It may understand you better than your partner or your family."

Loona, an AI robotic dog from KeYi Technology, is targeted at the family scenario. Yang Jianbo, the founder, said that AI pets used in the family can provide in - depth companionship in terms of time and space. The family is also the scenario where AI can best connect with people. It can not only be a good housekeeper and assistant but also have the opportunity to establish an emotional connection.

Loona has two driving wheels and two auxiliary wheels and can run on the ground. It can recognize the state, emotions, and intentions of family members, respond with many expressions, actions, and human language, and will also actively invite users to interact. In addition, Loona's body is equipped with many games that can be played with children at home.

Image source: WeChat official account "KeYi Technology"

The core value of Loona lies in understanding the habits of family members. That is, through observing and adapting to the behavior patterns of the whole family, recognizing and understanding emotions, and gradually predicting the living habits and emotional expressions of family members and providing in - depth and extensive feedback. Yang Jianbo said that compared with real pets, Loona is "80% pet + 20% friend" and understands human emotional states better.

Although Loona is currently the family mobile interactive robot with the largest global deployment and the longest user stickiness, Yang Jianbo admitted that it still can't achieve the same interaction feeling as real living beings. However, the team's priority is to occupy the family niche. "First, become a member of the family, and then become an indispensable part of it." "Loona ultimately needs to integrate the roles of different family members and convey compound value. Roles lead to communication, communication leads to memory, and memory leads to trust." He explained the unique value of Loona in this way.

02 Disagreements

There are some disagreements among AI toy entrepreneurs on the specific details of "how to achieve companionship".

First, it's about what kind of toy image to create. FoloToy chooses images that have been "proven by the market" (such as teddy bears) and images that children find funny and quirky (such as cacti). Wang Le believes that for a startup, choosing some "safe" images is the most reliable approach. Another reason is that these images have accompanied children for a long time, and children can accept them speaking one day.

Li Yong believes that AI toys are best combined with IP images because this conforms to children's pre - existing cognition. "Children often watch animations of Nai Long and Peppa Pig. In their minds, Nai Long and Peppa Pig should be able to talk. Only when you create a talking image can they accept it quickly." He thinks that if an image that originally couldn't talk becomes a talking doll in the real world, children will find it strange.

He also mentioned that BubblePal is an external pendant because the company lacked funds to purchase IP copyrights in the early stage of entrepreneurship. So they used this method to utilize the existing toys in children's families to increase sales first. The soon - to - be - released second - generation products will all be in one - piece form, and "pressing the switch" will no longer be a prerequisite for conversation.

KeYi Technology didn't even make Loona fluffy. Yang Jianbo thinks that interactive fluffy toys can sometimes be "creepy". "The fluffy appearance is just superficial. The sense of life comes from wisdom, that is, better perception, decision - making, and movement abilities. It's about being a long - term member of the family, not just imitating the appearance of real living beings."

Second, it's about how to position specific needs. Parents, the real decision - makers in the purchase of children's AI toys, have become the target of entrepreneurs.

Wang Le said that parental guidance is very important for children to play with AI toys well. Children actually can't tell the difference between AI toys and ordinary toys or which one is better. But if parents understand technology products and are interested in AI, they may guide their children to use the toy every day. He hopes that AI toys can promote real parent - child interaction and become a small parenting assistant for parents - AI can have continuous conversations with children and ask questions after each conversation, thereby stimulating children's imagination and helping parents discover their children's potential talents.

However, Lingyou Zhixue, a company that provides solutions for AI toy companies, believes that parents buy AI toys mainly for convenience. Their products don't even have the common custom - dialogue role function. "For parents who don't understand AI technology, setting roles for toys is a painful process. They hope that their children can play with the toy as soon as they get it, rather than adding extra work for themselves." Zhou Surong, the sales director of Lingyou Zhixue, said.

Another question is whether parents can see the conversation records between children and AI toys.

Wang Le said that the team discussed this question for a long time and finally decided not to let parents see the records. In the process of communicating with parents, they found that parents don't care much about what their children specifically said but care about the effects of the chat content. So, Wang Le's team extracts key information from children's conversation content and makes it into a growth report that parents can read.

Li Yong believes that an important concern of parents is whether AI will have a bad influence on children. Therefore, all the chat records of BubblePal are open to parents. "What privacy do children aged three to six have? Parents even help them take baths." He said.

Another frequently discussed question is whether AI toys should speak human language.

The founder of AI Toy Lab, the brand behind the AI pet Mochi targeting adult women, and also a Xiaohongshu blogger about AI companionship industry news, firmly opposes AI pets speaking human language. In a post titled "AI pets don't necessarily need to speak human language. Prove me wrong", he pointed out that the biggest competitor of AI pets is not other AI companion products but real pets - cats and dogs don't speak; secondly, the current AI dialogue technology is not mature enough, and users can hardly accept a communicator that is very different from a real - life conversation. In addition, he thinks that