Inside chilling sex robot factory in China pumping out legions of next-gen AI-powered $3,000 ‘love dolls' for lonely men
The sex dolls have become creepily realistic - and China's robot factories are at the centre of the revolution.
16
16
16
16
WMDoll, one of China's leading sex doll makers, is expecting a 30 percent leap in sales this year, as men unable to find partners refuse to stay celibate.
Part of the uptick in interest comes from the enhanced "user experience" - which now makes use of the latest AI tech.
Founder and CEO Liu Jiangxia told South China Morning Post: 'It makes the dolls more responsive and interactive, which offers users a better experience."
WMDoll, based in based in Zhongshan, a city in southern Guangdong province, implants its dolls with its cutting edge "MetaBox" brains.
These boast an AI element which is connected to the cloud.
The dolls fire off signals to Large Language Models (LLMs), like ChatGPT, which process the incoming data.
Instructions bounce back to the dolls, telling them how to move and interact.
The next-gen dolls are built from synthetic flesh stretched over a metal skeleton, weighing roughly half the weight of real humans.
The skin is formed from silicone or a similar material to create a feel as realistic as possible.
Traditional sex dolls are limited to simple, mechanical responses.
16
16
16
WMDoll thinks their dolls' ability to be more expressive gives them the edge.
The company says it can make dolls with roughly a whopping eight different "personalities" to choose from, which are able to continue a conversation that could have started a few days earlier.
WMDoll also gives its dolls an AI tool which works in pandering to its partner's ego, with the ability to ask questions about their so-called "relationship" as well as how they're feeling.
Founder Jiangxia said: "In the past, these dolls' primary function was to satisfy users' sexual needs.
"But as their physical features such as head and joint movements and skin became more realistic, our customers started to seek emotional companionship in the dolls."
The company began to use AI in its dolls back in 2016, with the tech constantly improving due to open source AI.
The dolls are usually made with thermoplastic, which is heated to 37C - a human's body temperature - to be as realistic as possible, with developers saying the creations have body sensors that also make them realistic.
A fellow doll manufacturer, Shenzhen Atall Intelligent Robot Technology, said previously that most of its doll buyers are 40 to 50-year-old men from Europe and the US.
16
16
16
16
Users can order custom-made AI dolls, priced at roughly £2,000 each, with soft and elastic skin made from rubbery plastic.
According to the company, US customers prefer dolls with darker skin and large breasts, buttocks and genitals.
While customers in China opt for Asian features.
China has been previously estimated to make roughly over 80 per cent of the world's sex toys, with more than a million employed in the country's booming $6.6 billion industry.
Chinese feminist Xiao Meili has said she believes that some men will always have outdated expectations of women - and "sex housewife robots" could help with this.
She said: "A lot of men want the same for women: sex, housework, childbirth and filial piety. They don't think of women as individuals.
"If every nerd buys a sex doll for himself, […] that would free a lot of women from these kind of men."
16
16
16
16
16
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Daily Mail
39 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
How podcast star David Sacks' rise to popular Trump ally started with cigars in back rooms and a strategic $10M purchase
As a group of prominent MAGA influencers and podcasters met at Shelly's Back Room, the smoke-filled cigar bar just a block away from the White House in February, an unassuming white haired man in a tailored suit entered the room. It was David Sacks, Trump's newly anointed artificial intelligence and cryptocurrency czar. The event, hosted by prominent MAGA figure Mike Cernovich and bitcoin millionaire and entrepreneur Erik Fineman, featured podcaster Tim Pool, who hosted a live recording in one of the side rooms. The group watched as Sacks joined the podcast as he easily chatted with the younger, and less wealthy, hosts as they reflected on the 2024 election over drinks and cigars. Sacks, a billionaire Silicon Valley investor, bet big on President Trump in the Summer of 2024, well aware of stakes if then-President Joe Biden won reelection. His well-attended fundraiser at his mansion that summer in San Francisco sent a signal to Silicon Valley that it was okay to support Trump again, and even cool. Turns out it was a smart bet. Sacks is now one of the president's top advisers, by spearheading a Republican approach to tech policy and attracting a wide fanbase in Washington, DC 'He's incredible. He's been a great member of President Trump's administration and has helped us bring in many new friends to the MAGA movement,' Trump's media advisor and podcast guru Alex Bruesewitz told the Daily Mail about Sacks. Sacks, with his three poker buddies and co-hosts of the popular podcast 'All In,' had already emerged as celebrities in the podcast community as the four 'Besties' grew their show over the past few years. After that summer fundraiser, they hosted Trump on their pod for nearly an hour. The billionaire presidential candidate spoke easily in the forum of friends, joking about their status and wealth and discussed what he would do for the economy and tech industry. Sacks' gamble paid off as Trump appointed him to the administration after the election, putting him in an unprecedented position of influence in the burgeoning new industries. Tech leaders and cryptocurrency moguls celebrated at the exclusive 'Crypto Ball' in January to celebrate Trump's inauguration, as Sacks celebrated the new era of cryptocurrency expansion. 'The reign of terror against crypto is over,' Sacks proclaimed to the cheering crowd. Sack's new role thrust him into an unfamiliar social territory of Washington, DC. He moved quickly to integrate himself into Washington society, purchasing a $10 million property in Northwest DC. Despite his big real estate moves, his calm, unassuming personality serves him well in the city as he has been spotted at the Ned's club near the White House. 'David's super smart. I see him around in DC all the time,' Fineman told the Daily Mail. 'He can kind of blend in. He's a chill guy.' Groups of young DC professionals and staffers typically huddle to ask 'Is that him?' when he enters a room and gradually attracts attention from fans who cautiously approach him for a photo and a quick conversation. In May, Sacks moved to start his own private 'Executive Branch' club in Georgetown, as he explained the podcast he found the clubs in Washington, DC 'kind of old and stuffy.' 'We wanted to create something new, hipper, and Trump-aligned,' he said. The exclusive club costs as much as $500,000 to join, as Sacks promised it would be free of lobbyists and 'fake news' reporters for elite professionals. But Sacks does not spend his time there exclusively, as he is known to appear at other clubs and events around the city. This week, Sacks successfully celebrated a milestone achievement with the release of the administration's new 28-page AI Action Plan at a summit in Washington, DC, which was co-hosted by the All-in podcast. Sacks, together with Chamath Palihapitiya, Jason Calacanis, and David Friedberg created the All-In podcast during the coronavirus pandemic, as the quarantined friends started dabbling with the format to recreate the lifestyle they were used to before California locked down. Each host, wealthy tech investors in their own right, exhibit their own unique egos, backgrounds, and ideas on the show. Their political views vary so much that it often leads to dynamic, and at times fraught, conversations that appeal to anyone ranging from MAGA diehards to liberal vegans. The unique podcast formula quickly drew a passionate fan base that grew beyond Silicon Valley, as the four friends banter through issues facing the country and dabble in politics. It re-introduced Trump to their unique audience, demonstrating why it could be a good thing to put the bombastic former president back in the White House. The four friends united over their shared loathing of 'woke' policies that consumed the tech industry, especially censorship and defended the importance of classically liberal values like freedom of speech. At the summit in Washington, the podcast co-hosts interviewed Vice President JD Vance as well as Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, Energy Secretary Chris Wright, and Department of Interior Doug Burgum President Trump also appeared at the summit to deliver the path forward for artificial intelligence, praising Sacks as a 'smart guy.' 'I did that podcast a year and a half ago and I said, 'This is something.' It was pretty new, pretty raw. Everybody I knew saw that podcast. I said, 'Well, he's got something pretty good. Who is that guy?'' Trump said. The four friends watched as the president prioritized issues they had talked about on their podcast for years, enshrining them into policy positions that will reverberate throughout the industry. 'It's actually very uncool, as somebody told me the other day. It's so uncool to be woke,' Trump said. 'I encourage all American companies to join us in rejecting poisonous Marxism in our technology.' With his wealth, podcast popularity, and newfound political clout, more people know who he is as Sacks has emerged as a significant figures in Washington in just six months. Sacks did not respond to a Daily Mail interview request. 'David Sacks is an incredibly successful businessman and visionary in emerging technologies. His service to the President and dedication to his work here is crucial to ensuring America is prepared to win the AI race and secure our global technological dominance,' White House deputy press secretary Harrison Fields told the Daily Mail. Sack's swift success demonstrates a stark contrast to other Silicon Valley geniuses who quickly sour on the bureaucracy and backstabbing in the swamp of Washington. As everyone in Trumpworld knows, success in one position can swiftly lead to future opportunities.
The Guardian
an hour ago
- The Guardian
Indian film company to rerelease romantic drama with AI ‘happy ending'
An Indian film company is rereleasing a 2013 romantic drama with an alternate artificial intelligence ending without the involvement of its director, in what could be the first instance of its kind in global cinema. Raanjhanaa, a Hindi-language film about the doomed romance between a Hindu man and a Muslim woman, will return to cinemas on 1 August under its Tamil-language title Ambikapathy. The film's original tragic ending will be replaced by a 'happy' one. Pradeep Dwivedi, the chief executive of Eros Media Group, defended its decision, saying technological innovation was part of the company's long-term creative and commercial vision. He said the alteration was an 'exploratory baby step' and confirmed that Eros was 'significantly evaluating' its library of more than 3,000 releases for similar AI treatments. 'If the technology allows us to do something and we can do something good with it, why not?' he said. 'There has to be a symbiotic understanding of what the technology allows, what the creative process can foster, and what the audience accepts.' The rerelease has drawn strong criticism from the film's director, Aanand L Rai, who said he learned of the move through media reports. 'I'm heartbroken that this is the future we're heading toward, where intent and authorship are disposable,' Rai told the Press Trust of India. 'All I can do is dissociate myself from such a reckless and dystopian experiment.' He said his team had contacted the Indian Film and Television Directors' Association and was exploring legal options. Neither he nor the guild responded to the Guardian's request for comment at the time of publication. The film starred the Tamil actor Dhanush and the Bollywood actor Sonam Kapoor as the star-crossed interfaith couple, one of whom dies in the original ending. Eros's catalogue includes Indian classics such as Sholay, Mother India, Om Shanti Om, and Bajirao Mastani. Its streaming service, Eros Now, hosts more than 11,000 digital titles. Dwivedi said Ambikapathy was produced entirely in-house with human supervision, and was being presented as an optional alternative rather than a replacement of the original film. Posters for the rerelease describe the ending as AI-powered, although Eros declined to confirm whether similar disclaimers will appear within the film itself. Dwivedi said the director's criticisms were 'emotional' and omitted relevant legal context. He pointed to an ongoing corporate dispute between Eros and Colour Yellow Productions, the studio co-founded by Rai. In an email to the Guardian, Colour Yellow's chief operating officer, Harini Lakshminarayan, said the company's partnership with Eros ended 'some time ago' due to operational challenges. 'To call this a 'respectful creative reinterpretation' while excluding the very people who made the film over a decade ago is deeply contradictory,' she wrote. She said the incident underscored 'the urgent need for fair, transparent protocols' on the use of AI, especially with archival material. 'If a finished film can be altered and rereleased without the director's knowledge, it sends out a clear and very troubling message – that the film-maker's voice is dispensable.' The film critic Sucharita Tyagi said: 'Most directors in India don't even own the rights to their films,' referencing examples such as Vasan Bala's Peddlers, which Eros International has still not released to the public after acquiring Indian distribution rights in 2012. 'If they decide to AI alter Peddlers and then release it, then it's a different film altogether.' The release has also raised questions about how the film's new 'happy ending' may reinterpret its interfaith storyline, a sensitive topic in India's political and cultural landscape. 'The film works because these are people trying to defy social norms,' said Tyagi. 'To now decide what a 'happy ending' looks like, 13 years later, is scary.' Ambikapathy is scheduled to open before Rai's latest feature, Tere Ishk Mein, also starring Dhanush and due for release in November. Rai has described the new film previously as being 'from the world of Raanjhanaa' but not a sequel. Eros, which holds the rights to Raanjhanaa, has denied any connection between the two projects. The rerelease comes amid growing experimentation with AI across the global film industry. In Hollywood, AI has been used for voice cloning, dubbing and visual effects, including accent enhancement in The Brutalist and simulating the voice of Anthony Bourdain in the 2021 documentary Roadrunner. Concerns about AI-generated scripts and the use of actors' likenesses were key issues in the 2023 writers' and actors' strikes.
The Guardian
3 hours ago
- The Guardian
Spanish teenager investigated on suspicion of creating AI-generated nude videos
Police in eastern Spain are investigating a 17-year-old boy on suspicion of using artificial intelligence to create and share fake nude images of his female schoolmates that he intended to sell online. Guardia Civil officers in the Ribera Alta area of Valencia began investigating in December last year after a female student reported the creation of a social media account in her name that featured an AI-generated video. Guardia Civil said in a statement on Sunday: 'Photos of various people, all of them minors, appeared on this account. All these photos had been modified from the originals, which had been manipulated so that the people in them appeared completely naked.' The same girl reported a second social media account in her name, as well as other accounts that showed AI-generated nude videos, and a webpage devoted to advertising the images for commercial purposes. After 15 other minors came forward with similar complaints, officers began to suspect the person behind the faked images and videos was one of the girls' schoolmates. By trawling social media posts, contacting hosting companies and examining a website advertising AI image modification services, police picked up the trail of the suspect. Guardia Civil said: 'Officers obtained user and access information used on these platforms – including IP addresses – which led to the home of one of the complainants' schoolmates. They also confirmed that the emails used to create the accounts belonged to the same person.' The Guardia Civil said a 17-year-old boy was being investigated on suspicion of corrupting minors, adding that a youth court in Valencia was overseeing the case. Last year, 15 minors in the south-western Spanish region of Extremadura were sentenced to a year's probation after being convicted of using AI to produce fake naked images of their female schoolmates, which they had shared on WhatsApp groups. The defendants were also ordered to attend classes on gender and equality awareness, and on the 'responsible use of technology'. The court said in a statement: 'The sentence notes that it has been proved that the minors used artificial intelligence applications to obtain manipulated images of [other minors] by taking girls' original faces from their social media profiles and superimposing those images on the bodies of naked female bodies. The manipulated photos were then shared on two WhatsApp groups.' The Malvaluna Association, which acted on behalf of the affected families, said the case had implications for wider Spanish society. 'Beyond this particular trial, these facts should make us reflect on the need to educate people about equality between men and women,' the association told the online newspaper at the time. It said the case underlined the necessity of proper sex education at school so that children did not learn about sex from pornography, which 'generates more sexism and violence'. In March, Spain's socialist-led government said it was working on a law that would help protect young people online by treating internet grooming and the use of non-consensual AI-created sexual imagery as criminal offences.
