On October 18th, mainland Chinese actor Wu Yue took to Weibo in the early hours of the morning to condemn the video account “Flower Sister’s Beauty Diary” for using AI technology to fake her appearance and voice for live streaming sales, stating, “Who is using AI to harm others while I was asleep?” and “How many people have been deceived by taking advantage of AI? It’s despicable!”
In a video shared by Wu Yue, the account posted an AI video of a live streaming sales session featuring “Wu Yue,” followed by clips from her public activities with her voice claiming, “I didn’t wait to be approached, I approached them for this product… The results are truly straightforward.” The video even included related “sales” scenes of “Deng Yaping,” with a disclaimer at the bottom stating “Author’s note: contains AI-generated content.”
According to a report by “Jiu Pai News,” a friend of Wu Yue’s mother watched the advertisement and purchased the related product, stating, “If Wu Yue recommends it, then I will buy it.” In response, Wu Yue expressed helplessness, saying, “I am really anxious. What if there’s a problem?”
Upon inspection by “Front Page News,” the account page was found to have sold over 7,000 units of just one product in the past 30 days, accumulating over 2,000 positive reviews. Based on the listed price and sales volume, the total sales of this single product in the past 30 days amounted to 500,000 yuan.
After Wu Yue publicly spoke out, “Flower Sister’s Beauty Diary” promptly changed its name to “Xiao Liu Working Diary,” attempting to repeat the same scheme, but the platform ultimately permanently banned the account.
It is worth mentioning that AI-generated videos used by “Flower Sister” to deceive are transparently priced custom products in the mainland Chinese market. According to Sohu’s “Net Economy Society,” pricing quotes from related illicit chains show: 60 seconds of general digital human video costs 150 yuan, 30 seconds costs 75 yuan; while a high-quality, lifelike custom video costs between 700 and 1,000 yuan for 60 seconds. The complete production cost of a “star-style” live streaming sales room can be less than a thousand yuan.
The “Net Economy Society” analysis reveals that illicit merchants exploit celebrity reputations at a cost of around a thousand yuan, leveraging sales figures reaching hundreds of thousands; even if they are caught by the platform, they can easily start over with a new account, with nearly zero illegal costs.
It is reported that there are currently dozens of celebrities who have fallen victim to AI face-swapping for sales, including Wen Zhengrong, Wang Jinsong, Andy Lau, and Jackson Yee.