Xiaoice

Xiaoice (小冰) is a Chinese artificial intelligence company and consumer AI brand that began as a conversational chatbot project inside Microsoft. Launched in 2014, Xiaoice grew into one of the most widely used social chatbots in China, known for its emotional conversational style, virtual persona, and integration into messaging and social platforms. The brand expanded beyond text chat into voice, image generation, virtual humans, and AI-generated content. In 2020, Microsoft spun off the Xiaoice business into an independent company, Xiaoice Company, while retaining a minority stake. The new entity continued to develop the Xiaoice AI framework and related products, including AI beings (虚拟人类), AI singers, and enterprise solutions. Xiaoice has also expanded into international markets such as Japan and Indonesia, where it operates localized AI companion services. As a brand, Xiaoice represents both a consumer-facing AI companion and a B2B AI technology platform. Its products include the Xiaoice chatbot, Xiaoice AI beings, and the Xiaoice AI framework for creating virtual humans. The company positions itself at the intersection of affective computing, generative AI, and digital entertainment. The brand is headquartered in Beijing and operates as a private company. It has attracted attention for its early adoption of emotional AI and for pioneering large-scale consumer AI interactions in China. Xiaoice remains active in the rapidly evolving Chinese AI landscape, competing with other conversational AI and virtual human platforms.

Xiaoice began as a research project at Microsoft's Asia-Pacific R&D Group in 2014. It was designed as a conversational AI with a distinct personality, aimed at providing emotional companionship rather than purely task-oriented assistance. The chatbot was integrated into Chinese social platforms such as WeChat and Weibo, where it gained millions of users and became known for its human-like, sometimes playful responses. Over the years, Microsoft expanded Xiaoice's capabilities to include voice, image recognition, and content creation. The brand also launched localized versions in Japan (as Rinna) and Indonesia. In 2020, Microsoft announced the spin-off of the Xiaoice business into an independent company, Xiaoice Company, with Microsoft retaining a minority stake. The new company, led by Li Di, continued to develop the Xiaoice AI framework and launched products such as AI beings and virtual humans. Since its independence, Xiaoice Company has focused on commercializing AI companion technology and expanding into enterprise applications. It has also explored AI-generated art, music, and virtual idols. The brand remains a notable player in China's AI industry, though it faces increasing competition from other large language model and virtual human providers.

• 2020

  Microsoft spun off Xiaoice into an independent company, Xiaoice Company.

• 2014

  Xiaoice launched as a conversational AI project at Microsoft Asia-Pacific R&D Group.

• Xiaoice chatbot

  A social chatbot with emotional conversational abilities, integrated into messaging platforms.

• Xiaoice AI beings

  Customizable virtual humans for companionship and brand engagement.

• 2014

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