Hong Kong has become an active hub for AI digital human development and application, with a growing ecosystem of startups, academic institutions, government initiatives, and commercial platforms. Local companies such as Pantheon Lab and platforms like A-Cut have launched AI-generated digital human apps for marketing, live streaming, and education, including the creation of highly realistic avatars. The Hong Kong Productivity Council and organizations like DYXnet are collaborating with Tencent to provide digital human marketing solutions, while live commerce using digital human streamers is expanding. Initiatives span various sectors, including smart government services, cultural promotion, legal education, and finance. Universities such as Hong Kong University of Science and Technology are researching digital human applications in teaching and simulation. Concerns around regulation, privacy, and ethical use are also emerging, particularly in response to the rapid adoption of clone avatars and generative AI across social media and e-commerce.
[Aug 2025]
2025
May 26, 2025: JD.com – Announced that its digital human livestreaming technology has surpassed 80% of human livestreamers in sales performance while costing only one-tenth as much.
May 22, 2025: GIBO Holdings Ltd. – Launched GIBO Click, a modular system that enables users to convert physical figurines and digital creations into AI-driven avatars for their 72 million users.
May 17, 2025: 2077.ai – Digital human AI host collaborated with human hosts at Hong Kong 01’s “Corporate AI Upgrade and Transformation Exchange Day” event.
May 7, 2025: 2077.ai – AI hosts interacted with human hosts at the “Corporate AI Upgrade and Transformation Exchange Day” hosted by Hong Kong 01.
April 21, 2025: ICBC – Applied for patent titled “Virtual Image Generation Method, Device, and Electronic Equipment Based on Financial Business Information” for personalized virtual avatars in financial services.
April 20, 2025: Innocorn Technology Limited – Showcased AI virtual humans for customer service at InnoEX 2025, with implementation already at Queen Mary Hospital.
April 16, 2025: Zhipu and BYOND ASIA – Launched Hong Kong’s first interactive celebrity digital avatar with advanced AI, featuring AI Mr. Eric Tsang.
March 30, 2025: ICBC – Filed patent for AR-based virtual avatar navigation system titled “Guidance Method, Device, Equipment, and Medium Based on Virtual Avatar.”
March 29, 2025: Global Digital Creations Holdings Limited – Reaffirmed commitment to advancing virtual digital human technologies despite financial challenges in their 2024 annual report.
March 19, 2025: Pantheon Lab – Launched upgraded Metahuman Interface (MHI) featuring advanced emotional intelligence as an NVIDIA Inception program member.
March 15, 2025: Tencent Cloud – Showcased AI Digital Human technology for customer service enhancement in educational presentation.
March 11, 2025: Shanghai Gaotoo Information Tech and Yashi Education Tech – Featured Hong Kong-American actor Daniel Wu as an AI-powered English teacher on Douyin platform.
March 5, 2025: Digital Domain Content (Hong Kong) Limited and TOPPAN Holdings Inc. – Announced collaboration to advance virtual human technologies by integrating high-resolution biometric data.
March 1, 2025: Aier Eye Hospital – Digital human Eyecho integrated DeepSeek R1 inference model to enhance AI-driven ophthalmic services.
February 21, 2025: Hui Taojin Group and ShenAiBang – Developed digital human solutions for marketing with AI-driven short-form video engagement.
February 14, 2025: Mango AI (Mango Animate) – Showcased photo-to-speech technology that turns pet photos into talking animations using advanced facial recognition and AI-powered lip-syncing.
February 5, 2025: Colossyan – Reported 61% rise in new accounts reaching 35,000 business users, driven by advancements in AI avatars and interactive video technology.
February 4, 2025: NVIDIA – Sought AI Digital Human Development Intern for its AI Technology Center in Hong Kong focusing on NVIDIA ACE, Omniverse, and NIM technologies.
February 3, 2025: MEET48 and SNH48 Group – Announced that all 736 members will join MEET48.ai as AI Agents in the world’s first AI-Agent UGC entertainment creator community.
January 27, 2025: Qilu Yidian – Created ultra-realistic 3D digital hosts “Si Si” and “Ruyi” for the 2025 Duanshang Spring Festival Gala broadcast.
January 26, 2025: Virtual Teacher Program – Used virtual teacher “Yuan Laoshi” to facilitate cultural education program across five Greater Bay Area cities.
January 19, 2025: HKUST – AI-powered English learning system integrated avatars in the Global Englishes AI-assisted Virtual Reality Learning System (GAVIS) for secondary students.
January 19, 2025: Yirun Health Industry (Guangzhou) Co., Ltd. – Launched Guangdong’s first public welfare project integrating “Smart Health + AI Digital Humans” in collaboration with Longjin Community Health Service Center.
January 18, 2025: Sinopec – Launched China’s first AI digital employee fueling assistant across 40+ stations nationwide.
January 6, 2025: Animoca Brands Limited – Sought AI Product Manager for Portfolio Team in Hong Kong to lead AI-focused projects within the Web3 ecosystem.
2024
December 12, 2024: Education University of Hong Kong – Li Zijian, President of EdUHK, together with Professor Song Yanjie developed a digital human modeled after President Li that can communicate in Cantonese, Mandarin, and English.
November 16, 2024: ViVi.AI – World’s first multimodal AI-based social network launched in Hong Kong featuring highly advanced digital avatars with lifelike accuracy and unique personalities.
October 22, 2024: AWS Hong Kong – GenAI Pop-up Experience Space highlighted advancements including Maya Kim, an AI virtual fashion expert developed by Green Tomato using AWS technology.
September 1, 2024: DYXnet – Partnership with Tencent Cloud Image launched in Hong Kong integrating large language models like ChatGPT for AI virtual ambassadors providing real-time customer interaction.
July 19, 2024: Digital Domain – Joined Hong Kong Science Park with announcement of establishment of International Innovation Research and Development Center for virtual human technology.
May 11, 2024: Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST) – Students used virtual reality headsets to attend lectures by an AI-generated Albert Einstein on game theory as part of AI lecturers initiative.
April 24, 2024: Asiabots and Hong Kong Customs – Introduced ‘Virtual Customs Service Ambassador – XiaoHui’ at InnoEx 2024 Hong Kong International Innovation and Technology Exhibition.
April 17, 2024: Education University of Hong Kong – Dr. Song Yanjie and team developed 3D metaverse platform called “Learningverse” with avatars that mirror real users.
April 15, 2024: Hong Kong Generative AI Research and Development Center (HKGAI) – Joint-university venture led by HKUST showcased cutting-edge AI projects at InnoEx 2024.
March 16, 2024: DotDotNews – Hong Kong-based digital media platform announced addition of five new virtual anchors to their existing lineup.
March 8, 2024: NodeFlair – Job posting for GenAI Digital Human Engineer position in Hong Kong seeking expertise in Unreal Engine or Unity for insurance sector applications.
February 2, 2024: Set Sail AI and MTR – Local AI company provided support for MTR’s “Virtual Service Ambassador” at Quarry Bay Station with Smart Customer Service Mode.
2023
December 30, 2023: Hong Kong Customs and Asiabots Limited – Launched “XiaoHui,” an AI-powered Virtual Customs Service Ambassador to enhance travel experiences and address common entry/exit inquiries from citizens and visitors.
December 29, 2023: Hong Kong MTR Corporation – Introduced an AI service ambassador “intern” developed with a local startup at a cost of over one million Hong Kong dollars, supporting Cantonese, Mandarin, and English voice control features.
December 19, 2023: DreamWorld AI – Pioneered AI-powered digital humans technology that allows users to create, animate, and perform live with full-body digital avatars using only a single-lens device.
December 11, 2023: SenseTime‘s Digital Entertainment Business Division – Li Xingye delivered a keynote address on AI integration in consumer industries at the 2023 Unicorn Summit, discussing the intersection of artificial intelligence and the consumer industry.
November 8, 2023: Digital Domain Group Limited – Showcased a virtual Teresa Teng performance at the 2023 City University of Hong Kong Foundation Dinner, where the AI-driven virtual singer performed “Sweet Honey” and interacted live.
October 20, 2023: Asiabots – Introduced a range of virtual avatars including 2.5D Animation characters, 3D virtual humans, and advanced AI-generated digital humans as part of their Digital Human offering.
October 17, 2023: QMMM Holdings Limited – The Hong Kong-based digital media advertising firm announced plans to list on NASDAQ, having been active in the virtual avatar space since 2014.
March 22, 2023: New World and Pantheon Lab – New World invested in Pantheon Lab’s AI technology to diversify PropTech development.
March 10, 2023: Pantheon Lab – The Hong Kong start-up specialized in creating digital humans for companies and was working with enterprise clients in Hong Kong.
March 9, 2023: AYAYI developer Louisa Zhu – Analyzed the marketing potential of virtual humans and industry trends at MarketingPulse held at HKCEC in Wan Chai.
March 5, 2023: Hong Kong Federation of Youth Groups – Held “Inno Impact 2022” award ceremony recognizing business solutions including local 3D virtual musicians and virtual human advertisements related to metaverse and virtual culture.
2022
December 11, 2022: Shenzhen Qianhai virtual digital human teacher “Mr. Yuan” conducted a metaverse New Year’s Eve music class simultaneously with Hong Kong Handing College and Shenzhen Nanshan Qianhai.
November 11, 2022: Pantheon Lab Limited raised seed funding led by Alibaba Hong Kong Entrepreneurs Fund to grow its AI-powered digital humans business.
November 9, 2022: Pantheon Lab announced completion of seed funding round led by Alibaba Hong Kong Entrepreneurs Fund.
October 20, 2022: Marvion announced plans to populate their metaverse with digital human avatars that can interact and learn from real users.
October 19, 2022: Sekaie and Hong Kong artificial intelligence startup Pantheon Lab launched a service utilizing “realistic virtual humans” using AI technology for marketing and advertising.
October 16, 2022: Pantheon Lab’s deep learning technology developed lifelike “Virtual Human” with high-quality automatically generated visual content for marketing and creative industries.
October 13, 2022: Rumble Kong-Holders received exclusive 1:1 voxelized avatars playable inside The Sandbox metaverse.
October 8, 2022: Gusto deployed AR and AI technology to create metahumans for authentic content production and consumer connections.
August 19, 2022: Discussion about virtual influencers in Hong Kong regarding identification and regulation of virtual human form avatars.
August 17, 2022: Tencent Cloud’s AI technology enabled Mildom to let influencers create custom characters as virtual streamers.
July 14, 2022: Release of “2022 virtual digital human business value potential TOP50” ranking featuring various Chinese virtual humans.
July 13, 2022: Tencent Cloud collaborated with Voicemod to launch real-time voice-changing chat solution for immersive virtual gaming experiences.
June 24, 2022: SenseTime‘s digital human research became popular at CVPR 2022 conference with fine modeling of expressions and gestures.
May 9, 2022: DISTRICT signed business agreement with EVR Studio to expand digital media art contents business.
May 5, 2022: Pantheon Lab developed 4 AI virtual humans for HUAWEI’s Matebook E promotion in Hong Kong with a virtual human contest.
May 2, 2022: Analysis of virtual human industry development since Hatsune Miku’s creation 15 years prior, questioning if the industry had “taken off.”
March 14, 2022: Ralph Poon created a 3D virtual YouTuber called “Ralph Virtual” using MetaHuman and Unreal Engine, speaking in Cantonese.
February 10, 2022: Hong Kong-listed Digital Domain, an Avengers VFX maker, stated that virtual humans could be the “foundation of metaverse.”
January 7, 2022: A new virtual influencer named Hazel was launched in Hong Kong on Instagram.