China’s JD.com ramps up AI use on its platform as founder Richard Liu Qiangdong debuts avatar in live-streaming sessions
- The JD.com founder’s avatar is powered by the company’s own ChatRhino large language model
- The two live-streaming sessions hosted by Liu’s avatar on Tuesday generated more than 20 million views combined
The virtual Liu, however, mostly read from a prepared script and did not interact or answer questions from the online audience.
Still, the inaugural live-streaming sessions hosted by Liu’s avatar were a success, as the two campaigns – each lasting less than an hour to promote consumer electronics devices and groceries – generated more than 20 million views combined.
The virtual Liu is expected to host more live-streaming shows in the future, as JD.com touted that its AI-powered virtual streamers now covered more than 4,000 brands.
That initiative has lowered the cost of holding such sessions by 90 per cent, compared with having human hosts, according to the Beijing-based company.
JD.com’s virtual hosting technology can also reply to 70 per cent of the frequently asked questions during a live-streaming session, according to the company.
JD.com in late February already applied for trademarks related to its founder’s avatar, including “Liu Qiangdong”, “Old Liu” and “Old Liu’s special session”, according to records on corporate information provider Qichacha. The applications are being processed by the Trademark Office of the China National Intellectual Property Administration.
JD.com offers US$138 million in cash incentives to boost video content
Last year, 71.2 per cent of Chinese netizens bought goods online after watching short videos or live-streamed content, up from 42.7 per cent in 2022, according to a recent report by the China Netcasting Services Association.