AI hosts fuel China’s livestream shopping boom

Over the years, AI-driven sales have emerged as a new force in China’s fast-growing livestreaming e-commerce industry, where cartoon avatars cheer, dance, and rap to promote products on live shows.

HANGZHOU: “OMG!”, “Buy it! Buy it!” were some of the catchphrases that an AI-powered virtual host picked up from China’s “King of Lipstick” Li Jiaqi, the cosmetic salesman who once sold 15,000 lipstick tubes in just five minutes through livestreaming.

Over the years, AI-driven sales have emerged as a new force in China’s fast-growing livestreaming e-commerce industry, where cartoon avatars cheer, dance, and rap to promote products on live shows.