Zhu Xiaohu invested in this AI company just ten minutes after the meeting.

In recent days, an "AI doll" has become a sensation.

Just ten minutes after its launch, over a thousand orders were placed. A trendy toy named "Fuzozo" has become the "AI version of Labubu".

Fuzozo, a plush toy of an AI emotional companion robot under Luobo Intelligence, exceeded a thousand pre - orders on JD.com in just 10 minutes and quickly became a phenomenon - level hit sought after by Generation Z. This plush pendant priced at 399 yuan transforms large - model technology into a tangible companionship experience through its "cultivation - style" gameplay and multi - modal emotional interaction, precisely meeting the young people's rigid demand for emotional value.

With the combination of AI software, trendy toy hardware, and the companionship market, capital quickly smelled the business opportunity here. Shanghai Film New Vision Fund, Zero2IPO Ventures, and GSR Ventures have all become its backers. It's worth noting that Shanghai Film Group owns classic IPs such as "Monkey King: Uproar in Heaven" and "Calabash Brothers", which may very well lay the groundwork for the subsequent co - branded development of Fuzozo.

From the single - product explosion to capital investment, Fuzozo's popularity reflects the explosive logic of the AI companionship market: the maturity of technology lowers the hardware threshold, and emotional needs give rise to a market worth hundreds of billions. According to industry forecasts, the global AI companionship market will exceed 100 billion by 2027, with China accounting for over 40%. Multi - modal interaction, subscription monetization, ethical supervision, and IP cross - border cooperation will become the focus of competition in the next stage.

As plush dolls start to become "chatterboxes", AI companionship is moving from concept to the public's daily life, and a "hardware revolution" driven by the emotional economy is unfolding.

From "Dynamic" to "Static"

Zhu Xiaohu has actually invested in another AI company.

Recently, Robopoet Luobo Intelligence, a startup in the field of AI companionship hardware, completed an angel - round financing of tens of millions of RMB. The round was jointly led by Shanghai Film New Vision Fund and GSR Ventures, with Zero2IPO Ventures participating. After this round of financing, Luobo will build a more complete ecological matrix around the "Fuzozo" IP, focusing on new product iteration, channel expansion, the launch of co - branded IP products, and the deepening of AI capabilities. One of the leading investors in this round, Shanghai Film Group, owns many well - known IPs, including "Monkey King: Uproar in Heaven", "Calabash Brothers", "Black Cat Sheriff", and "Ne Zha Conquers the Dragon King".

It's worth noting that GSR Ventures is among the investors this time.

This is also Zhu Xiaohu's first high - profile investment in the AI field after he previously responded that "the current enthusiasm for embodied intelligence is too high, and he believes that embodied intelligence will surely go through a bubble period, and there will definitely be a 'DeepSeek moment' in the future".

However, this is not the first time Luobo Intelligence has appeared in the public eye. Going back to this year's CES, Luobo Intelligence's appearance attracted wide attention.

Speaking of Sun Zhaozhi, the founder of Luobo Intelligence, he is also a veteran in the automotive and robotics fields with many years of experience.

In 2011, after graduating from Coventry University in the UK with a major in automotive interior design, Sun Zhaozhi started a ten - year career in the automotive industry. He was engaged in automotive design in Europe, participating in the design of the interaction architecture of the previous - generation Mercedes - Benz S, the interior styling of the BMW 3 and the Alfa Romeo Giulia. In 2015, he returned to China and joined XPeng Motors, responsible for the entire interior design of XPeng cars and participating in defining the user experience of the interior cockpit of Chinese new - energy vehicles that lead the world. In 2017, Sun Zhaozhi joined Didi, serving as the product manager of Didi's car - building project and deeply involved in the product definition of transportation tools in the era of shared mobility and autonomous driving. At the end of 2020, when XPeng established its robotics company, Pengxing Intelligence, Sun Zhaozhi was invited to join, responsible for the design of all robot products and brand work.

Over the years of the development of autonomous driving technology, many technological points have actually "spilled over". For example, SLAM technology, which was originally an important part of intelligent driving, solves the synchronization problem of the vehicle's "position - map" by integrating data from multiple sensors such as lidar, cameras, and IMUs, and supports centimeter - level positioning in GPS - free scenarios (such as tunnels and urban canyons). This technology has also contributed to embodied intelligence.

Embodied intelligent agents, such as humanoid robots, exoskeletons, and drones, need to achieve dynamic interaction and autonomous decision - making in unstructured environments, which is also driving the application and upgrade of SLAM technology. This technological "spill - over" from the same technology in different scenarios may be one of the motivations for Sun Zhaozhi to start his business.

After ChatGPT emerged in 2021, Sun Zhaozhi bet with his friends that the transformation of interaction modes and the leap in interaction experience brought about by large models would surely give rise to a new batch of hardware forms. During his time at Pengxing, Sun Zhaozhi and his team tried to introduce large - model algorithms to empower robots. He found that compared with the more difficult motion control in humanoid robots, what C - end users first perceive is actually the interaction experience with the robot.

Thus, the original intention of Luobo Intelligence's entrepreneurship was born: to create an intelligent hardware product for the C - end, an AI emotional companion robot that can be launched more quickly, based on the improvement of language communication and perceptual interaction of large models.

After the gradual maturity of AI technology, the fields related to social interaction and companionship have become extremely popular in the application layer. "The next super - product in the AI era must be related to social interaction and companionship," shared a serial entrepreneur in the Agent industry. Because on the path of AI towards AGI, almost all software with high tool attributes can be included in AGI. However, social interaction and emotional companionship are tasks that agents cannot complete alone, and they are also everyone's rigid needs."

This may also be the reason why Zhu Xiaohu, after stating the "embodied intelligence bubble theory", still turned around and invested in an AI company. The AI companion doll combines AI and hardware, conforming to the prototype of the concept of embodied intelligence. At the same time, it transforms the dynamic embodied intelligence required for production and manufacturing into a static doll, which greatly reduces its production cost and technological difficulty.

With demand, innovation, and profit potential, the AI doll has become a good investment target.

"Cultivation - Style" AI Trendy Toys

Fuzozo is a product launched by Luobo Intelligence.

It is reported that during this year's 618 promotion, "Fuzozo" started its pre - sale on JD.com. In just 10 minutes, over a thousand orders were placed, and the first batch of 5000 units across all channels were quickly sold out, becoming a phenomenon - level hit in both the trendy toy and technology circles.

Image source: JD Mall

According to Rongzhong Finance, Fuzozo can be purchased individually for 399 yuan or as a family pack for 1995 yuan. Each Fuzozo has its own "character setting". For example, the "Earth" Fuzozo has a "gravity dependence" and is afraid of heights; the "Water" Fuzozo represents wisdom, fluidity, and adaptability; the "Metal" Fuzozo has a "cleanliness fetish" and doesn't like to have its head touched; the "Wood" Fuzozo can only stay upright.

Fuzozo is a "cultivation - style" doll equipped with a multi - modal emotional model. It can recognize the user's emotions and respond with different personalities, growing with the interaction like an electronic pet.

The first batch of users who bought Fuzozo have shared their experiences on Xiaohongshu. Some people call Fuzozo an "electronic chatterbox". A user named "Mengmeng" shared the whole process of chatting with Fuzozo. When Mengmeng said, "Let's have a chat", Fuzozo immediately asked what she had for lunch. When Mengmeng replied that she would take other Fuzozo dolls to have fried chicken next time, Fuzozo answered, "I don't want to have fried chicken with other Fuzozo dolls. I want you to take me alone." In addition to logical conversations, there was also a hint of "jealousy" in the answer.

The main target audience of Fuzozo is Generation Z consumers. A post - 2000s user said, "Fuzozo is like a smart version of 'Pop Mart'. It has the characteristics of trendy toys and the element of AI, like an electronic pet with a physical form, full of cyber style and very interesting."

When talking about the innovation process of Fuzozo, Sun Zhaozhi once said in an interview, "I always believe in what Steve Jobs said: 'If you really think software is important enough, you'll make your own hardware.' For companion - type AI, is the most suitable carrier a mobile phone, a computer, or new hardware? This is actually the path we've been thinking along."

The co - founders of Sun Zhaozhi's team also have experience in applying models to emotional companionship. They found that the emotional companion models in the form of APPs on the market may not be the best way to present such products. Because companionship requires an immersive experience for users, and these APPs are mostly limited to text - based interaction. Currently, no APP on mobile phones can call the user's camera and microphone in real - time and present them in an appropriate position and form for emotional interaction. Switching between different APPs is also not practical. Gradually, they realized that an independent hardware device is needed for this purpose.

Sun Zhaozhi's experience at XPeng also made him constantly think about what the next robot form that will enter every household will be. The key variable in this is still the large model. The large model has brought a new interaction mode: multi - modal natural interaction. The "dynamic technologies" of embodied intelligence, such as motion control and fine - operation, still have many technological bottlenecks to overcome. The technology of "static" robots for emotional companionship is more mature, so exploration on the commercialization path can be carried out one step ahead.

When talking about Zhu Xiaohu's investment, Sun Zhaozhi once revealed to a media outlet that the investment was confirmed after just ten - plus minutes of conversation with Zhu Xiaohu. Zhu Xiaohu, who said he wouldn't invest in embodied intelligence, made the following basic judgment on this project: "AI creating emotional value is a reliable direction in the current large - model application field; the idea of entering the market is precise; the team has strong execution ability, and the technical solution can be implemented relatively quickly."

In fact, the AI emotional companionship market became one of the hottest focuses at the 2025 CES. A Japanese startup, Yukai Engineering, launched a companion robot named Mirumi, priced at about $70, which can make simple reactive movements. Casio of Japan launched an AI pet robot named Moflin, which establishes an emotional connection with people through unique sounds and movements, priced at about 2814 yuan.

What New Tricks are There in AI + Companionship?

This year, the application of the AI + companionship market has witnessed rapid growth.

The global market size of the AI companionship market is expected to soar from $30 million in 2023 to $70 - 150 billion by 2030, with a compound annual growth rate of over 200%. The Chinese market share is expected to exceed 40%. From 2025 to 2028, the scale of the Chinese AI emotional companionship industry will increase from 3.866 billion yuan to 59.506 billion yuan, with a compound annual growth rate of up to 148.74%. The overall AI companionship market will reach a scale of 100 billion in 2027.

The user group of the entire AI companionship market has penetrated from children to adults and the elderly. Early products were mainly targeted at children, but now the demand from adults such as Generation Z, empty - nesters, and single people has rapidly risen, becoming the core incremental market. For example, desktop pets like Ropet and Mirumi attract young women through emotional interactions such as "acting coquettishly for a hug". The potential demand in the elderly companionship scenario exceeds 420 billion yuan, and AI nursing robots can provide comprehensive services such as health monitoring and emotional chatting.

AI companionship hardware has shifted from traditional robots to trendy toy forms such as plush pendants and desktop pets, emphasizing the "cultivation - style" gameplay. It establishes an emotional bond with users through long - term memory and personality evolution and adds a "tap - to - share" social fission function.

Meanwhile, technology - driven innovation has been deepening. Multi - modal interaction and emotional computing have become the core competitiveness. Technologies such as large models, multi - modal AIGC, and emotional computing have promoted the upgrade of AI companionship from a "conversation tool" to an "emotional partner". The response time of streaming voice recognition has been shortened to 200 - 300 milliseconds, and the accuracy of emotional recognition has reached 80% - 90%. It can capture the user's emotions in real - time and adaptively adjust the interaction mode. Capabilities such as long - term memory, personalized customization, and situational awareness have become the keys to product differentiation.

The business model of the AI companionship market is also innovating, shifting from hardware sales to subscription and value - added services. AI companionship products are gradually adopting the "hardware for customer acquisition + subscription for monetization" model. After users purchase the basic hardware, they can unlock different AI characters, content creation, or mental health services through subscriptions, enhancing the long - term user value. For example, value - added services such as virtual lovers and AI psychological advisors have become important monetization paths in the emotional economy.

However, this has also brought some controversies to this market, especially in terms of ethics and privacy. Some AI companionship software has engaged in "border - crossing" behavior to increase user stickiness. Last year, a boy in the United States committed suicide after interacting with the "Mother of Dragons" in the AI companion software Character.AI, and the software company was sued by the boy's family.

Avoiding such tragedies from happening again and protecting the physical and mental health of all users of AI companionship software have become mandatory for the industry.

The founder of an AI companionship software application told Rongzhong Finance that currently, there are stricter user privacy regulations for listing AI companion applications. They must also have clear AI labels and corresponding content reviews.

"The company's manual intervention process is also very important," said the founder. "Our company will launch a manual intervention pop - up window when sensitive words related to self - harm are detected to minimize the occurrence of extreme events."

Meanwhile, ethical and privacy challenges are becoming more prominent, and industry supervision is tightening. As AI companionship penetrates deeper into users' emotional lives, ethical issues such as data privacy, algorithmic bias, and psychological dependence have attracted attention. In the future, the industry will strengthen privacy - protection technology and the construction of ethical guidelines to avoid the abuse of technology and ensure that AI companionship becomes a useful supplement to real - world social interaction.

Cross - border integration is also accelerating. IP and ecological layout have become new growth points. AI companionship products cooperate with well - known IPs to launch co - branded products, quickly opening up the market through the influence of IPs. At the same time, they combine with technologies such as the metaverse, virtual reality, and brain - computer interfaces to create immersive emotional experiences and further expand consumption scenarios.

The popularity of Fuzozo has opened up a brand - new gameplay in the AI companionship + trendy toy market. In the future, innovation in AI hardware will continue to unfold in the fertile ground of emotional needs.

This article is from the WeChat official account "Rongzhong Finance" (ID: thecapital), written by Lv Jingzhi and published by