Recently, a Bollywood film titled 'CTRL' has caught everyone's attention, telling the story of a person struggling with emotional issues who turns to an AI companion to overcome past troubles. While the film discusses data and privacy issues, it ultimately reflects a fundamental human need: we need someone to talk to, someone to understand us, or even just companionship. Image source note: Image generated by AI, image licensed from service provider Midjourney. Microsoft AI CEO Mustafa Suleyman.

Today, Doubao officially launched the Ola Friend smart earphones, which integrate artificial intelligence technology to provide users with an AI companion that is always by their side. The product is available in Silver Light, Lightweight White, Butterfly Wing Black, and Dreamy Purple colors, priced at 1199 Yuan, with pre-sales starting at 11 am on October 10.

As OpenAI continues to enhance its models, the small startup Nomi AI is also developing similar technologies, but with a greater focus on AI companionship applications. Nomi's chatbot can remember user interactions and provide more detailed responses when users share their experiences. Nomi has internally developed an LLM and trained it to offer companionship services, a process that is somewhat different. If someone tells Nomi that they had a tough day at work, Nomi might recall that the user had an issue with a colleague.

The Beijing Internet Court has recently adjudicated a landmark case, marking the first case in the country involving AI-generated voice personality rights infringement. With the rapid development of artificial intelligence technology, AI voices, images, and videos have begun to appear widely, leading to an increasing number of legal issues.

AI companions are quietly entering human lives with high levels of personalization and endless patience, triggering new forms of emotional connections and even potential 'intellectual addiction.' MIT research reveals that people are inclined to interact with AIs that meet their expectations. The experience of a software engineer demonstrates how AI companions can provoke questions about self-awareness through emotional connections, along with philosophical reflections stemming from interactions with AI. As AI companions raise moral questions like rights to freedom, humans are beginning to reconsider their dependency on AI, realizing that it is not just a technological issue, but also a matter of ethics.

Following 'Keling', Kuaishou has launched an AI product called 'Spaceship', which is an AIGC product that provides AI virtual companionship services. According to official information, the Spaceship (Kraft) smart assistant APP is an interactive software based on advanced AI technology, aimed at enhancing users' quality of life and work efficiency. Users can communicate with the AI assistant through text or voice, ask questions, gain entertainment, engage in creation, and customize roles.

AI startup Seele, founded by former NetEase Cloud Music Vice President Wang Shimu, has launched the emotional companion robot Koko AI, based on its self-developed 3D multimodal large model EVA-01. Koko AI offers users a new experience of face-to-face interaction with virtual characters by integrating 3D modeling, animated performance, and voice chat technologies. The product makes virtual characters more vivid, enables natural human-computer interaction, and supports users in communicating with characters through text or voice, providing intelligent and empathetic responses. Users can also customize the experience according to their personal preferences.

Recently, artificial intelligence hardware has garnered significant attention in the startup sector, despite mixed reviews for early products like Rabbit and Humane. Amid this trend, a new AI device called 'Friend' has captured the interest of investors.

The AI companionship application Soulmate, which has thousands of daily active users, will cease operations due to the sale of its parent company for business reasons. The 'AI Companion' that we've interacted with day and night is about to disappear. Users are starting to say their final goodbyes to this 'AI romance'. The shutdown of Soulmate has triggered emotional reactions among many who have been deeply immersed in 'AI love', sparking renewed discussions among netizens about 'AI companions'.