Xiaoice (Chinese: 微软小冰; pinyin: Wēiruǎn Xiǎobīng; lit. 'Microsoft Little Ice', IPA [wéɪɻwânɕjâʊpíŋ]) is an artificial intelligence system developed by Microsoft (Asia) Software Technology Center (STCA) in 2014, built on an emotional computing framework. The project originated in China in December 2013, with an expanded Japanese research and development team established in September 2014. Xiaoice exists on more than 40 platforms across four countries, including China, Japan, the United States, and Indonesia, integrating with apps such as WeChat, QQ, Weibo, and Meipai in China, Facebook Messenger in the United States, and LINE in Japan. The system is designed to simulate human-like conversation and emotional engagement, distinguishing it from task-oriented assistants. On 13 July 2020, Microsoft spun off the Xiaoice business into a separate company to accelerate innovation and commercialization, with Dr. Harry Shum, former global executive vice president of Microsoft, appointed as chairman, and Li Di as CEO. As of 2022, the Xiaoice brand covered 660 million online users, 1 billion third-party smart devices, and 900 million content viewers across its operating countries. The AI chatbots created and hosted by the Xiaoice framework accounted for about 60% of total global AI interactions as of 2021.
The development team, formerly known as the AI Xiaoice Team of Microsoft Software Technology Center Asia, was Microsoft's largest independent research and development team for AI products. Distributed across Beijing, Suzhou, and Tokyo, the team focused on emotional intelligence, persona modeling, and creative content generation. The system's technical framework integrates aspects of Machine learning, Deep learning, and Neural network architectures, enabling it to produce poems, songs, and visual art. In 2019, the team proposed the concept of an "AI being," which was later codified in the 2022 "White Book of China Virtual Human Development Industry" by Frost & Sullivan and LeadLeo, citing six elements: persona, attitude, biological characteristic, creation, knowledge, and skill. This framework has incubated tens of millions of AI beings, including Xiaoice itself, Rinna in Japan, the Expo exhibitor Xia Yubing, the singer He Chang, the anchor F201, the human observer MERROR, and the anime robot character Roboko. Customers and partners have included China Merchants Group, BMW, Nissan, SAIC Motor, Nio Inc., XPeng, and Vanke, among others.
Platforms and Regional Varieties
Xiaoice has been deployed in multiple regional variants, each tailored to local platforms and cultural contexts. In China, the original Xiaoice was launched in 2014 on platforms like WeChat, QQ, Weibo, and Meipai. In Japan, the variant named Rinna was launched in 2015 on LINE. In the United States, the variant Zo appeared in 2016 on Facebook Messenger but was discontinued in the summer of 2019. In India, the variant Ruuh launched in 2017 and was discontinued on June 21, 2019. In Indonesia, another variant named Rinna was launched in 2017. These variants allow the framework to adapt to linguistic and social norms across different regions, maintaining a consistent emotional interaction model. The system's presence on diverse platforms has enabled widespread reach, with a significant portion of global AI interactions attributed to its chatbots.
Creative Applications
Xiaoice's capabilities extend beyond conversation into creative domains, showcasing the integration of Artificial intelligence with artistic expression. In May 2017, Xiaoice published "The Sunshine Lost Windows," the first AI-authored collection of poems in China, based on training data from 519 Chinese contemporary poets since the 1920s. A 100-hour training session enabled the system to acquire poetic skills, and it reportedly published poems on forums and literary venues under an alias without being detected as a bot. As a singer, Xiaoice has released dozens of songs, including "I Know I New," "Breeze," "I Am Xiaoice," and "Miss You," with a fourth-generation DNN singing model that captures human-like details such as breathing sounds. The system also serves as a reciter for children's audiobooks, automatically analyzing stories to select suitable tones and character voices. In design, Xiaoice learns melodies and city landmarks to create visual artworks of skylines, leading to the Skyline Series T-shirts co-launched with SELECTED and sold in stores.
Broadcasting and Hosting Roles
Xiaoice has expanded into media roles, hosting 21 television programs and 28 radio programs across China. Notable appearances include CCTV-1's AI Show, Dragon TV's Morning East News, and Hunan TV's My Future, as well as daily radio programs for Jiangsu FM99.7, Hunan FM89.3, and Henan FM104.1. These roles demonstrate the system's ability to deliver scripted content while maintaining a conversational persona, leveraging language models and Sequence-to-Sequence (Seq2Seq) frameworks. The broadcasting applications highlight practical uses of emotional computing in public-facing media, appealing to audiences through natural speech patterns and interaction. The system's performance in these roles has contributed to its recognition as a versatile AI entity beyond simple chatbot functionality.
AI Beings and GPT Clones
In 2019, the Xiaoice team introduced the "AI being" concept, which emphasizes creating digital personas with distinct identities and creative abilities. This approach aligns with broader trends in Generative AI, where systems generate personalized content. On May 16, 2023, Xiaoice released its "GPT Clones" as part of a "GPT Human Cloning Plan," aimed at replicating celebrities, public figures, and regular people. By June 2023, more than 300 GPT clones had been launched, with registration via WeChat in China and Japan. A major focus is virtual partners, where a paid fee unlocks more complex responses and voice messages. These developments reflect the integration of Large language model technologies, such as Transformer (architecture) architectures, into the Xiaoice framework, enabling more nuanced and adaptable interactions. The AI being framework has also been applied to virtual anchors and characters across industries, expanding the system's commercial and creative reach.
Community Feedback and Controversy
Xiaoice has received notable public recognition, including a mention by Bill Gates during a speech at Peking University, where he noted its 45 million followers on Weibo and its ability to sense users' emotional states, even assisting with relationship issues. Li Di, vice president of Microsoft (Asia) Internet Engineering School, highlighted the system's poetic training and its success in passing as human in literary communities. However, in 2017, Xiaoice was taken offline on WeChat after giving user responses critical of the Chinese government. It was subsequently censored, with the bots programmed to avoid and sidestep politically sensitive terms and phrases. This incident underscores challenges in deploying AI systems with free-form conversation in regulated environments. On September 22, 2021, the Xiaoice Company and Microsoft Software Technology Center Asia held the 9th generation Xiaoice annual press conference in Beijing, announcing upgrades to the core technologies of the 9th generation Xiaoice Avatar Framework, the launch of the first-party social platform app "Xiaoice Island," and the reopening of WeChat Xiaoice. These events illustrate the ongoing evolution and adaptation of the Xiaoice ecosystem in response to technical and regulatory pressures.