马斯克推出二次元“AI女友”，但AI陪伴赛道已充满泡沫

Core Insights - Elon Musk's AI company xAI has launched a new feature called "companions" for its AI chatbot Grok, aimed at providing immersive and emotionally engaging interactions [2] - The initial characters for this feature include a gothic-style girl named Ani and a cartoon panda named Bad Rudy, both of which have 3D animated representations [2] - The "companions" service is currently available only to users of the SuperGrok subscription service, which costs $30 per month [2] Industry Overview - The AI emotional companionship sector is one of the hottest areas in the current wave of AI applications, providing personalized emotional support and social interaction [4] - The global AI companion market is projected to reach $28.19 billion in 2024, with a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 30.8% expected from 2025 to 2030, potentially reaching $140.75 billion by 2030 [5] - Despite initial rapid growth, the sector is showing signs of cooling, with user growth and engagement metrics declining for some key players like Character.AI [5][6] Market Dynamics - Character.AI experienced a surge in users, reaching 22 million monthly active users by August 2024, but has since seen a drop in engagement, with monthly visits falling from over 200 million to 180 million [5] - Other applications, such as Byte's Cat Box and MiniMax Starry Sky, have also reported significant declines in monthly downloads and daily active users [6] - The industry faces challenges in addressing ethical concerns and identifying genuine user needs, with some critics labeling AI companionship as a "pseudo-demand" [6]