Illustration by Tag Hartman-Simkins/Futurism. Source: Getty Images
China is a country defined by major contradictions. The country is ruled by a Communist Party that has carefully embraced market forces. part of a long transition Away from capitalism. Against this backdrop of ideological tension, it is not surprising that small contradictions abound.
One of them is the country’s growing adoption of human-like AI systems, which are becoming embedded in increasingly embraceable, commercial, transactable toys — for adults, surprisingly, in addition to children — at the same time that state regulators are considering a broader crackdown on that exact type of technology.
New reporting by China Daily AI companion toys have been found to be on the rise among adults in China, a trend emerging as more of the country’s citizens live alone than ever before.
Nancy Liu, 27, interviewed by the publication, says she goes to bed with an AI toy every night. She says, she is attracted to it because of features like simulated breathing, heating mechanism and its ability to hold casual conversations at all hours of the day.
“It feels like there’s something waiting for me,” he said. “No judgment, no rushing – just there.” Liu didn’t specify which device she’s using as a companion, but given the explosion of similar toys on the market, she’s not alone.
At CES 2026 in Las Vegas, there were about 60 AI toy companions on display. Per China DailyChinese companies represented about 80 percent of them.
from egg shells Accept AI Pocket Pet to fuzzy Fuzhou and moving autonomously tcl amyAI toys are taking China by storm. China Daily The transaction volume of AI toys on e-commerce giant Taobao is reported to have increased by more than 1,600 percent in 2025. On e-commerce site JD.com, sales of laolao parrot toy About 7 million units were sold – a huge number for a toy, possibly helped by the fact that each toy cost only 159 yuan, or about US$23.
Despite all their commercial success, AI collaborative toys appear to stand in conflict with recent regulations passed by lawmakers in Beijing. Just ahead of the new year, the Cybersecurity Administration of China has proposed a series of reforms aimed at ensuring that AI developers protect consumers’ mental health from chatbot interactions, amid reports of people around the world experiencing sometimes serious mental health problems linked to AI use.
Although the rules have not yet been passed, they would hold Chinese tech companies accountable for AI that generates content that promotes suicide, self-harm, gambling, obscenity, violence, or that is found to manipulate users’ emotions.
Can such pervasive AI behaviors even be controlled Stays till seenBut the real test may be whether Beijing can reconcile its regulatory ambitions with the consumer market, which has already adopted these toys by the millions.
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