‘DeepSeek moment’ in AI vs humans: Artificial intelligence influencers outperform human rivals in livestream sales

Artificial intelligence (AI) avatars are now selling more than real people. A live stream hosted by Chinese tech firm Baidu and popular live streamer Luo Yonghao confirms this.

On Baidu’s platform, Youxuan, Luo and his co-host Xiao Mu used digital versions of themselves to livestream for over six hours. Their AI avatars helped them earn 55 million yuan (about $7.65 million), CNBC reported.

This was much more than Luo’s earlier livestream using his real self. The earlier stream lasted four hours and made fewer sales. Luo admitted it was his first time using virtual human technology.

“The digital human effect has scared me ... I’m a bit dazed,” CNBC quoted him as saying.

Luo became famous through livestreaming on Douyin (China’s TikTok). He has over 24 million followers. He started selling online in 2020 to pay off debts from his failed phone company.

The avatars were built using Baidu’s AI model, which was trained on five years of videos and copied Luo’s humour and style.

China’s livestreaming and digital avatar industry is growing fast. AI company DeepSeek is gaining attention for creating technology like ChatGPT, but at a lower cost. DeepSeek uses open-source tools and is backed by Chinese tech giant Baidu.

AI-powered digital avatars are helping companies save money. They can livestream nonstop, without needing breaks or big production teams.

Earlier, companies like Baidu were unsure about using digital humans. But, today, their technology has improved greatly.

Since the pandemic, livestream shopping has become popular in China as people looked for new ways to earn money. Livestreamers now earn through commissions and digital gifts.

The trend is so strong that Douyin became the second-biggest online shopping platform in China. It has overtaken JD.com and competing with market leader Alibaba.

“This is a DeepSeek moment for China’s entire livestreaming and digital human industry,” Wu Jialu told CNBC.

Wu is the head of research at Be Friends Holding, another company owned by Luo.

AInfluencer Neuro-sama

Neuro-sama, an AI streamer, is gaining popularity on Amazon’s platform Twitch. She appears as an anime girl who chats, sings and plays games like Minecraft.

Her replies come from a chatbot similar to ChatGPT. Her creator, Vedal, built her using the Unity game engine and works on this project full-time, according to Bloomberg.

Despite being an AI avatar, Neuro-sama has become a hit. Around 5,700 viewers watch her streams regularly, making her one of Twitch’s top streamers.