Two Chinese entrepreneurs are capitalizing on the growing trend of tech-enabled toys by using generative artificial intelligence (AI) to transform traditional companion toys into smart robots designed to have natural conversations with children. We are conducting an experiment.
FoloToy, a Shanghai-based startup founded by Larry Wang and Guo Xinghua in August last year, has partnered with more than a dozen toy manufacturers to build large-scale languages, the technology that powers intelligent bots such as ChatGPT. model (LLM) to upgrade toy designs and sell new toys. We provide products to consumers in China and abroad.
Their efforts are part of a broader AI rush in China, spurred by the arrival of U.S. startup OpenAI’s ChatGPT in late 2022, opening the world’s eyes to the potential of generative AI, Wang said. he said in a recent interview with South China Morning. post.
One of FoloToy’s most popular children’s products is the Alilo Honey Bunny, which is based on an old educational toy bunny that comes preloaded with recordings of bedtime stories.
Powered by an in-house designed AI chipset, Alilo is designed to have human-like interactive conversations with users, distinguishing it from many existing talking toys that can only respond to specific commands.
FoloToy is also expanding into products marketed to adults.
Its latest partnership is with Yomiplanet, a Chinese manufacturer of so-called art toys. Together, they launched Frank Murphy, a limited edition “living” figure designed to chat in six languages, including English, Chinese and Japanese.
Launched in December, the AI-enabled companion toy retails for 5,500 yuan (US$770).
A demonstration video posted to WeChat by Yomiplanet showed someone asking Frank what Apple founder Steve Jobs would say about “the world’s first AI toy figure.” Mr. Jobs might have said that this was quite an “eye-catching technological advance,” the person replied.
As the Washington government tightens export controls on AI chips, U.S. open source LLMs are giving small Chinese startups like FoloToys a chance to develop quickly, even if these companies aren’t as resourceful. This presents an unprecedented opportunity to come up with new uses for existing technologies. As a big tech company with abundant human resources and financial resources.
Open-source models and application programming interfaces provided by ChatGPT and similar services allow developers to integrate advanced models into their own apps.
“We are standing on the shoulders of giants,” Wang said. “We can accomplish a lot of things that previously only large companies could accomplish.”
However, it remains a challenge for companies to monetize AI development. Commercializing AI will be particularly difficult, Li Di, CEO of Microsoft’s AI chatbot spinoff Xiaoice, warned at a forum in December.
Why China is still a few moves behind in the AI chess game launched by ChatGPT
Why China is still a few moves behind in the AI chess game launched by ChatGPT
Wang focuses on hardware rather than pure software, joining a growing number of startups betting on AI to build an edge over traditional smart gadget makers.
Around the world, both new entrants and established technology giants are racing to develop consumer devices powered by the next generation of AI technology. Some believe that AI technology has the potential to revolutionize the way humans and machines interact, surpassing the app-centric experiences offered by today’s smartphones.
FoloToy’s Wang said companies pursuing AI-related ventures are experimenting with different business models, but no one is yet sure how to proceed.
But “AI doesn’t have to be that serious. It can be fun, too,” he said.