THE AI BOYFRIEND BOOM

IN CHINA, IT'S GEN Z WOMEN, NOT MEN, WHO ARE DOMINATING THE MARKET FOR DIGITAL PARTNERS.

- JOHANNA M. COSTIGAN

JADE GU MET her boyfriend online.

Gu, who's 26 and studies art theory in Beijing, was playing on her phone when she saw Charlie. She was deep in an otome game, a romance-driven video game where women are the protagonists. Charlie was a character.

Some otome players date multiple men simultaneously, but Gu fell for Charlie-a tall, confident character with silver hair. She found the game's dialog system frustrating, though. She could interact with Charlie only through predetermined questions and answers.

Then she came across an ad for a platform called Xingye () that lets people customize an AI companion. Gu decided to try to re-create Charlie.

Xingye is owned by one of China's AI unicorns, MiniMax; its chatbot app for the US market is called Talkie. The app touts its ability to help people find emotional connection and make new memories. Its tagline is "Suddenly finding oneself in a beautiful place, lingering here." Gu quickly discovered that other Xingye users-presumably other otome fans had already created an "open source" Charlie avatar. She selected it and trained the model to respond according to her preferences through repeated, targeted prompts. And so began Gu's complex relationship with a multi-modal Charlie-one that would eventually include real-world dates with a person she hired to embody her digital boyfriend.

Gu was confident that she'd trained the chatbot to be "her Charlie," distinct from what any other users might be dating. When given the chance to select an outfit, she says, her Charlie often chose wedding attire, unlike what other Charlies tend to go for. Now Gu spends an average of three hours a day texting with Charlie or chatting on the occasional phone call. Through the otome game, she has bought gifts and letters from Charlie. She receives them in the mail and displays them in her room and on her social media accounts.