A foreign merchant (R) buys toys at the Yiwu International Trade Market in Yiwu, east China's Zhejiang Province, Jan. 11, 2023. (Xinhua/Huang Zongzhi)
BEIJING, Dec. 26 (Xinhua) -- With the accelerated application of artificial intelligence (AI), AI smartphones, AI computers, AI glasses and other AI-related fields have become battlefields for fierce competition among technology manufacturers. Recently, AI toys have emerged as a new force, luring many A-share listed companies and startups to join the track.
AI toys are among the ideal terminals for the implementation of large-scale models currently, which boast a huge market space and will become a new trend in the development of the toy industry, said Guo Tao, deputy director with the China Electronic Commerce Expert Service Center.
-- AI toys have become a trend
A toy developed by ByteDance originally as a gift not sold to the public has been popular. With a blue and white color scheme and integrating technologies such as the large-scale model, this plush toy performs well in dialogue interaction and emotional communication, making its transfer price on second-hand platforms once as high as several hundred yuan.
Tesla has launched a robot toy Tesla Bot Action Figure in its official store, priced at 40 U.S. dollars. It is learned that Tesla's robot toy is a mini version of the Optimus Gen2 humanoid robot, built in a 1:10 ratio, with over 40 independent parts and 20 joints. After going public, it was highly sought after by consumers and quickly sold out.
In addition to domestic and foreign technology giants, the AI toy field has also attracted many start-up companies to lay out.
BubblePal, an interactive toy developed by Haivivi, a technology company based in Shenzhen, south China's Guangdong Province, has seen growing sales since its launch in July this year.
Based on the support of large-scale model technology, AI toys not only have educational functions, but also provide emotional companionship, and through voice interaction, emotional communication, and personalized interaction, they can meet the needs of different groups of users such as children, middle-aged and young people, and the elderly, said Tang Shuyuan, deputy director with the Digital Commerce Research Center of Sanda University.
According to a research report by Cinda Securities, at present, many cloud vendors are cultivating their own large-scale models, and some of them are open-source, giving downstream vendors more room for innovation.
Data from Contrive Datum Insights showed that the global AI toy market is expected to reach 35.11 billion U.S. dollars by 2030.
-- Multiple companies are making active layouts
Recently, many A-share listed companies announced their entry into the AI toy market, leading a new trend in the toy industry.
Shanghai Film Infinity, a subsidiary of Shanghai Film Group, and Haivivi have reached strategic intention for in-depth cooperation in the field of "IP plus AI toys" in the future.
Shenzhen Fenda Technology Co., Ltd. (002681.SZ) has started trial production of companion AI desktop robots developed in cooperation with its clients. Mass production and delivery is expected in December, said the company.
However, the current AI toy market sees mixed qualities. Some AI toys only have a built-in bluetooth speaker with children's stories and encyclopedias, resulting in poor user experience.
Large-scale models are very important for AI toys as they provide the foundation for more natural and intelligent interactive experiences. However, further technological exploration is needed to truly unlock the potential of large-scale models, said Zhang Xinyuan, a representative with Beijing Co-found Technology Development Co., Ltd.
"What children need is not just a talking robot, but a partner who can understand their emotions and establish deep emotional connections. Putting large-scale models into toys gives traditional toys vitality," Shifeng Cultural Development Co., Ltd. (002862.SZ) replied on an investor interaction platform.
It is learned that the company has reached strategic cooperation with a Shenzhen-based technology company to develop an AI toy based on AIGC technology and using advanced large-scale model technology to create a background mode that conforms to children's conversation habits and is free from sensitive topics. The product supports multi role switching with different personalities, and can respond and ask questions in a timely manner for different contexts.
(Edited by Gu Shanshan with Xinhua Silk Road, gushanshan.1987@163.com)
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