Everyone generally feels that 2024 to 2025 is a critical period for AI toys to truly enter thousands of households, especially in 2025, many institutions call it "the first year of AI toys". Why do you say that? On the one hand, the large-scale model technology behind it is getting smarter and smarter, and the cost is also falling; On the other hand, various forms of products have appeared on the market: such as plush toys that can chat, smart pendants, children's companion robots, and even virtual AI pets. If divided by purpose, there are roughly three categories: those that focus on education and learning, those that provide emotional companionship, and those that focus on interactive entertainment.
What drives this upsurge is actually a common need in the hearts of modern people-a sense of loneliness and a desire for companionship. WHO has reported that one in six people in the world is lonely, regardless of age. As a result, the "lonely economy" and "accompanying economy" have quietly emerged, and the market potential is huge. Some investment institutions predict that by 2030, the revenue of the global AI companion market may exceed US $150 billion. In fact, in 2024 alone, the smart companion market will be close to 28.2 billion US dollars, and it is expected to grow at an annual growth rate of more than 30% in the next few years. The popularity can also be seen from the number of application downloads-in the first half of 2025, the number of downloads of AI companion apps worldwide has exceeded 220 million.
Under this trend, the core value of AI toys has undergone fundamental changes: the meaning of emotional companionship has far exceeded its function as a "toy" itself. People are willing to pay a higher price for this companionship, and product design is increasingly moving in the direction of "more like a partner"-not only to understand instructions, but also to be able to perceive emotions, remember past interactions, Support personalized development, and even make delicate feedback on, expression, and touch, making people feel that it is "alive".
Around different accompanying scenes, AI toys are also differentiating into different tracks:
For children, it assumes the dual role of "education and companionship", alleviates parents' parenting anxiety, and also helps children learn and grow;
For adults, it is more like an outlet for emotional comfort, or a social symbol showing individuality, so the design is more beautiful and emotionally interactive, such as trendy toys or bionic pets;
For the elderly, it takes into account health monitoring and ease of use in addition to simple companionship, and becomes a caring life assistant.
From children to the elderly, AI toys are crossing ages, using technology to warm every corner that needs companionship.
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