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WMDoll, one of China's largest sex doll manufacturers, expects a 30% increase in sales this year thanks to its adoption of open-source artificial intelligence (AI), which will enrich users' experiences with its dolls.

According to Liu Jiangxia, the company's founder and CEO, WMDoll's feedback has been generally positive following the integration of advanced language models (LLMs)—a technology that integrates generative AI services such as ChatGPT—into its new human-like sex toys.

"This makes the dolls more responsive and interactive, providing users with an enhanced experience," Liu said in a recent interview with the South China Morning Post.

Based in Zhongshan, in the southern province of Guangdong, WMDoll integrates the company's latest MetaBox with an AI module, connected to cloud services hosted in different markets, where LLMs process information from each toy.

The company has integrated several open-source LLMs, including Meta Platforms' Llama AI models, which can be configured and deployed anywhere.

The next-generation sex dolls, which rely on a metal skeleton and feature a silicone or thermoplastic elastomer exterior, exemplify the industry's innovative approach to improving customer satisfaction. In contrast, traditional dolls are limited to simple responses and lack the expressive capabilities needed to interact with a human user.

Open source allows public access to a software's source code, allowing third-party developers to modify or share its design, fix errors, or improve its functionality. Open-source technologies have been crucial to the rise of China's tech industry in recent decades.

Soon after OpenAI launched ChatGPT in November 2022, which sparked a global wave of AI-related investment, WMDoll began exploring how the technology could transform the sex toy industry, according to its founder, Mr. Liu.

After a year of development, the company plans to ship more than 100 prototypes of its LLM-powered MetaBox series to customers in North America and Europe, its main markets, in 2024.

Like previous versions, the new series of sex dolls not only replicates human physical characteristics, such as soft skin and genitals, but can also emit various sounds when touched. Thanks to the integration of AI, these dolls are more intelligent—offering a choice of eight different "personalities"—and can continue a conversation started a few days earlier with a user.

LLM-powered dolls are expected to cost between $100 and $200 more than existing versions, which currently sell for between $500 and $2,000. Customers will also be charged monthly for token usage after the first year of connectivity, according to Liu. A token is a fundamental unit of data processed by generative AI algorithms.

To address privacy concerns, WMDoll has integrated a feature allowing users to delete archived data with a single click on AI dolls. "All data is stored locally in the country of use, and we don't have access to it," Liu said.

She added that the company is still considering the adoption of DeepSeek's AI models, as they are not supported in countries like Italy.

Hangzhou-based DeepSeek has spawned a wave of AI deployments in China's high-tech sector, including personal computers, robots, and electric vehicles, after the company became a symbol of the country's victory over US sanctions.

According to Ms. Liu, WMDoll is among the early players in the Chinese sex toy industry and has always emphasized innovation, which strengthens its confidence in adopting AI. Compared to foreign brands, WMDoll enjoys an advantage in terms of raw material and labor costs, which are relatively low.

In Shenzhen, a tech hub in southern China, sex doll maker Starpery Technology began training its own LLMs last year to update its products—available in male and female versions—to acquire new capabilities. Its dolls, powered by AI models, are equipped with sensors to enhance the user experience by focusing on emotional connection, rather than basic conversational abilities.

Founded in 2010 as a mannequin manufacturer, WMDoll pivoted to adult toys two years later after receiving an order from a sex shop. In 2016, the company began making its sex dolls conversational by connecting to Baidu and iFlyTek databases. However, the dolls' responses were limited and unnatural, according to Liu.

Its products are marketed under the names WMDoll, AngelKiss, Galatea, JKDoll, and Jinsandoll overseas. About 90% of its sales are outside mainland China, with shipments to the United States accounting for half of its export volume.

Liu said the recent tariff increase imposed by the Trump administration had affected its business. "In some cases, we simply requested the additional 10% tax from local distributors; in others, each party paid an additional 5%," he said.

WMDoll is currently working on a wearable device that allows a non-AI toy to access its LLMs. The company is also collaborating with Shenzhen-based startup Mind with Heart Robotics to create dolls with realistic facial expressions, such as blinking and smiling, while also planning to develop body movements.