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Fran Lu

Egg sellers in China have used artificial intelligence (AI) to clone the country’s diving queen, Quan Hongchan, and other top athletes to sell their wares.
Chinese state media China Central Television reported on August 18 that 47,000 people fell for the AI scam.
The eggs were sold using an account with 14,000 followers.
It posted deepfake videos of 18-year-old Quan promoting free-range eggs produced on her family’s farm.
The video included a clip of “Quan” speaking to the camera, wearing a face mask.

It then shows chickens on a farm and egg products, with Quan’s voice continuing in the background.
“Hello everyone, I am your Chan Bao. I need a favour from you. I want to help my mum and improve my family’s conditions,” the voice says.
“My mum has prepared 300 orders of free-range eggs from our own farm,” the AI Quan continues, referring to herself by the nickname used by her fans, Chan Bao, which means “baby Chan”.
Another account also cloned Chinese table tennis world champions Sun Yingsha and Wang Chuqin’s voices to promote their “Sister Chan” eggs.
Originally from southern China’s Guangdong province, Quan became a household name overnight after winning a gold medal in the women’s 10-metre platform diving event at the Tokyo Olympics at the age of 14.

She bagged home another two gold medals at the Paris Olympics in 2024.
Quan’s hometown, Maihe village in Zhanjiang City, Guangdong province, southern China, also went viral, greeting more than 1,000 visitors a day.
Sun Yingsha and Wang Chuqin also have a large fan base in China, with 10 million followers each on social media.
Quan’s family told the media that they did not endorse any farm products.
The case has renewed concerns over AI scams and the use of the technology to infringe the rights of celebrities.
Some video bloggers clone celebrities’ voices and use them during live streams to attract followers and sell goods to them.
Some accounts also promoted AI voice cloning products and provided tutorials.
It is reported that in some cases, a voice can be cloned from an audio clip of less than 20 seconds.

In July, the police in central China’s Hubei province also reported a case in which scammers cloned the voices of ordinary people to defraud members of their family.
China’s Civil Code that took effect in 2021 listed people’s voices as being under legal protection for the first time.
In April 2024, the Beijing Internet Court ordered two companies to pay 250,000 yuan (US$35,000) in compensation to a voice actor for cloning his voice without consent.
This was China’s first legal judgment that protects voice rights from AI cloning.
“These scammers deceived people using their love for sports stars. They should be punished severely,” one online observer said.
“The social media platform should also take responsibility for such scams, because they let those videos circulate,” said another.


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China sellers use AI to clone dive queen Quan Hongchan, top athletes to push products

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The scammers used a fake image of Quan wearing a mask and a cloned version of her voice. Photo: Handout

Quan’s cloned voice was used to claim that her mother had prepared orders of eggs. Photo: Handout

Made-up images purporting to show the Quan family farm were also used in the scam. Photo: Handout

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