Chinese sex doll manufacturer WMDoll, one of the country’s largest in the industry, anticipates a 30% rise in sales this year, attributing the growth to the integration of open-source generative artificial intelligence (AI) models that enhance user experience.
Founder and CEO Liu Jiangxia stated that customer feedback has been largely positive since the company incorporated large language models (LLMs)—the same technology behind AI services like ChatGPT—into its latest anthropomorphic sex dolls.
“The AI makes the dolls more interactive and responsive, improving the overall user experience,” Liu told the South China Morning Post in a recent interview.
Based in Zhongshan, a city in southern Guangdong province, WMDoll equips its latest MetaBox series with an AI module linked to cloud computing networks across multiple markets. These cloud-based data centers enable LLMs to process information from each doll in real time.
The company has integrated various open-source LLMs, including Meta Platforms’ Llama AI models, which can be fine-tuned and deployed flexibly.
The latest generation of sex dolls, still built around a metal skeleton and clad in either silicone or thermoplastic elastomer, showcases the industry’s progressive attitude towards innovation aimed at enhancing customer satisfaction.
Unlike traditional sex dolls, which offer only basic responses and limited expressive capabilities, these advanced models are designed to interact more dynamically with users.
Open-source technology, which provides public access to a program’s source code, enables third-party developers to modify, enhance, or fix the software. This approach has significantly contributed to the advancement of China’s tech sector over recent decades.
Triggered by OpenAI’s release of ChatGPT in November 2022, which catalyzed global investments in AI, WMDoll began investigating how these advancements could transform the sex toy industry, explained founder Liu.
By 2024, after a year of development, the company had dispatched over 100 prototypes of its LLM-equipped MetaBox series to its primary markets in North America and Europe. These new models not only mimic human physical attributes such as skin softness and genitalia but also produce various sounds when interacted with.
With the addition of AI, these dolls now offer roughly eight selectable “personalities” and can maintain conversations over several days.
According to Liu, the LLM-powered dolls are set to be priced between US$100 and US$200 more than current models, which retail for between US$1,500 and US$2,000.
Additionally, after the first year, users will incur monthly charges for token usage, essential for the generative AI algorithms to function.
To mitigate privacy concerns, WMDoll has introduced a feature that allows users to erase stored data with a single click on their AI-enhanced dolls.
“The data is kept locally within the user’s country, and we do not have access to it,” stated Liu.
Liu mentioned that the company is considering whether to use DeepSeek’s AI models, which are currently not supported in certain countries, including Italy.
DeepSeek, based in Hangzhou, has sparked a surge in AI adoption across China’s high-tech manufacturing sectors such as personal computers, robots, and electric vehicles, becoming a national emblem of resilience against US sanctions.
WMDoll, as one of the pioneering entities in China’s sex toy industry, has consistently prioritized innovation, which Liu believes positions them well in the competitive landscape of AI integration.
She noted that WMDoll enjoys cost advantages in raw materials and labor compared to international brands.
In Shenzhen, another sex doll manufacturer, Starpery Technology, began developing its own LLM last year for newer models that include both male and female forms. These dolls are designed with AI and sensors to foster an emotional connection with users, beyond mere conversational abilities.
Originally established in 2010 as a mannequin producer, WMDoll shifted to adult toys in 2012 following a request from a sex shop.
By 2016, the company had begun integrating conversational abilities into its dolls using databases from Baidu and iFlyTek, although the responses were initially limited and stilted, according to Liu.
WMDoll, which markets its products under various brand names such as AngelKiss, Galatea, JKDoll, and Jinsandoll internationally, sees about 90% of its sales abroad, with half of its exports going to the United States.
Liu also commented on the impact of recent tariffs imposed by the Trump administration, noting that the company has negotiated with local distributors to manage the additional costs.
Currently, WMDoll is developing a wearable device that would allow non-AI toys to connect to its LLMs.
Additionally, it is collaborating with Shenzhen-based startup Mind with Heart Robotics to create dolls capable of lifelike facial expressions, such as blinking and smiling, and is exploring the development of body movements.
