Kuaishou, the Chinese short video giant, has been making strong steps in global markets through the use of a controversial new method, the AI companion avatars that sometimes come with NSFW (not safe for work) features. Such a step indicates that Chinese tech companies are launching global marketing campaigns (one such is Alibaba’s Amap who jumped to 400 million daily users) with daring content to court foreign customers beyond national boundaries.
From mostly live streaming and social video content, Kuaishou is now getting into the use of AI-powered chatbots for the experimental interaction of human-like communication with the foreign broadband crowd. It is a transformation that is too drastic, going from video content to non-material artificial intelligence experiences at the same time. Some versions are seen to be too casual with the use of words that are meant to be harmless or friendly. Thus, they are raising the issue of whether it is ethical or not and if the laws are on their side.
All these are understood as a step towards Kuaishou’s larger project of shifting to areas that are not connected with Chinese advertisements and commercial sectors that are becoming more and more limited and saturated at the same time. The parent company, Kuaishou Technology, is listed in Hong Kong with the stock symbol 1024. The ‘AI companion’ does not only involve a technical challenge but also a reputational one. While the factors of novelty and intimacy can be a practice to boost the participatory nature of users, critics fear of likely misuse, privacy issues, and content moderation problems.
International initiatives of Kuaishou are not original. Already regionalizing content to local preferences, the app goes by the moniker ‘Kwai’ in many international markets. Still, the push for an artificial intelligence companion is a more audacious foray into unexplored ground that may shape how Chinese technology grows internationally under more strict global standards. Regulatory systems differ significantly. Explicit content, even through artificial intelligence avatars, must abide by severe moderation and age-verification criteria in several Western markets.
