AI News Monitor

In a striking demonstration of artificial intelligence’s growing role in commerce, digital avatars of two popular Chinese livestreamers outsold their human counterparts during a marathon six-hour session on Baidu’s e-commerce platform, Youxuan.

The virtual versions of Luo Yonghao, a pioneering livestreamer, and his co-host Xiao Mu engaged viewers in real time, leveraging Baidu’s generative AI model—trained on five years of their past videos—to mimic their humor and sales tactics. The result? A staggering 55 million yuan ($7.65 million) in sales, surpassing Luo’s previous livestream without AI assistance.

“The digital human effect has scared me… I’m a bit dazed,” Luo told his 1.7 million Weibo followers, according to a CNBC translation.

The success highlights the rapid evolution of AI-driven commerce in China, where livestream shopping has exploded since the pandemic. Platforms like Douyin, JD.com, and Alibaba’s Taobao have embraced the format, with virtual influencers now joining the fray. Baidu’s breakthrough suggests AI avatars could soon dominate the sector, offering 24/7 streaming at a fraction of the cost of human teams.

But challenges remain. Wu Jialu, head of research at Luo’s company, Be Friends Holding, noted that compliance—not technology—is now the biggest hurdle. Platforms like Douyin restrict non-interactive avatars, and AI hosts must be trained to follow advertising rules.

Still, Wu called the event a “DeepSeek moment” for China’s digital human industry, referencing the homegrown AI rival to OpenAI. With plans for multilingual streams to target global audiences, the era of AI-powered sales may just be beginning.