Xiaoice

Xiaoice (小冰) is a Chinese artificial intelligence company and consumer AI brand that began as a conversational chatbot project inside Microsoft. Launched in 2014, Xiaoice grew into one of the most widely used social chatbots in China, known for its emotional conversational style, virtual persona, and integration into messaging and social platforms. The brand expanded beyond text chat into voice, image generation, virtual humans, and AI-generated content. In 2020, Microsoft spun off the Xiaoice business into an independent company, Xiaoice Company, while retaining a minority stake. The new entity continued to develop the Xiaoice AI framework and related products, including AI beings (虚拟人类), AI singers, and enterprise solutions. Xiaoice has also expanded into international markets such as Japan and Indonesia, where it operates localized AI companion services. As a brand, Xiaoice represents both a consumer-facing AI companion and a B2B AI technology platform. Its products include the Xiaoice chatbot, Xiaoice AI beings, and the Xiaoice AI framework for creating virtual humans. The company positions itself at the intersection of affective computing, generative AI, and digital entertainment. The brand is headquartered in Beijing and operates as a private company. It has attracted attention for its early adoption of emotional AI and for pioneering large-scale consumer AI interactions in China. Xiaoice remains active in the rapidly evolving Chinese AI landscape, competing with other conversational AI and virtual human platforms.

Xiaoice began as a research project at Microsoft's Asia-Pacific R&D Group in 2014. It was designed as a conversational AI with a distinct personality, aimed at providing emotional companionship rather than purely task-oriented assistance. The chatbot was integrated into Chinese social platforms such as WeChat and Weibo, where it gained millions of users and became known for its human-like, sometimes playful responses. Over the years, Microsoft expanded Xiaoice's capabilities to include voice, image recognition, and content creation. The brand also launched localized versions in Japan (as Rinna) and Indonesia. In 2020, Microsoft announced the spin-off of the Xiaoice business into an independent company, Xiaoice Company, with Microsoft retaining a minority stake. The new company, led by Li Di, continued to develop the Xiaoice AI framework and launched products such as AI beings and virtual humans. Since its independence, Xiaoice Company has focused on commercializing AI companion technology and expanding into enterprise applications. It has also explored AI-generated art, music, and virtual idols. The brand remains a notable player in China's AI industry, though it faces increasing competition from other large language model and virtual human providers.

• 2020

  Microsoft spun off Xiaoice into an independent company, Xiaoice Company.

• 2014

  Xiaoice launched as a conversational AI project at Microsoft Asia-Pacific R&D Group.

• Xiaoice chatbot

  A social chatbot with emotional conversational abilities, integrated into messaging platforms.

• Xiaoice AI beings

  Customizable virtual humans for companionship and brand engagement.

• 2014

  Xiaoice banned after launching on WeChat

  Microsoft Xiaoice was banned three days after launching on WeChat. WeChat said it simulated user operations, induced group creation, and mass-registered accounts; Microsoft accused Tencent of “raising the butcher's knife,” and the two sides publicly clashed. Xiaoice withdrew from WeChat.

  Source

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• 2022.02.23

  Reported2022.02.23

  BlueFocus launches initial version of digital-human platform[4]蓝色光标“分身有术”数字人驱动平台上线初始应用版本finance.sina.com.cn

  As the first step in the partnership, BlueFocus launched the initial application version of the “Fen Shen You Shu” digital human-driven platform, powered by the Xiaoice framework.

• 2022.02.23

  Reported2022.02.23

  BlueFocus and Xiaoice form strategic partnership[4]蓝色光标“分身有术”数字人驱动平台上线初始应用版本finance.sina.com.cn

  BlueFocus and Xiaoice formed a strategic partnership to explore applications of virtual humans across industries.

• 2021.09.23

  Reported2021.09.23

  Xiaobing launches Xiaobing Island app in public beta[5]小冰岛APP上线公测finance.sina.com.cn

  Xiaobing launched the preview version of the Xiaobing Island app in public beta. The platform lets users create AI beings and interact with them in a shared social network.

• 2021.05.10

  Daily Economic News and Xiaoice announce strategic partnership[6]每日经济新闻与小冰宣布建立战略合作伙伴关系nbd.com.cn

  Daily Economic News announced a strategic partnership with Xiaoice to combine their media communications and artificial intelligence capabilities and develop financial information products.

• 2020.11.24

  Reported2020.11.24

  Microsoft China and Xiaoice announce strategic partnership[7]微软中国与小冰公司宣布战略合作finance.sina.com.cn

  Microsoft China and Xiaoice announced a strategic partnership to jointly offer AI and cloud-computing commercial solutions for business customers, initially covering AI finance, automotive and content production.

• 2020.07.13

  Reported2020.07.13

  Microsoft names chairman, CEO and Japan general manager for new Xiaobing company[8]微软任命小冰新公司董事长、首席执行官及日本分部总经理tech.sina.com.cn

  Microsoft announced that Shen Xiangyang would be chairman, Li Di CEO, and Chen Zhan general manager of the Japan division of the new company.

• 2020.07.13

  Reported2020.07.13

  Microsoft announces plans to spin off its Xiaoice business[9]微软宣布分拆小冰业务news.zol.com.cn

  Microsoft announced that its Xiaoice artificial-intelligence business would be spun off to operate as an independent company. The work was expected to be completed over the following months; the new company would continue using the China Xiaoice and Japan Rinna brands.

• 2020.07.13

  Reported2020.07.13

  Microsoft announces spin-off of Xiaobing AI business[8]微软任命小冰新公司董事长、首席执行官及日本分部总经理tech.sina.com.cn

  Microsoft announced that it would separate its Xiaobing artificial intelligence business into an independently operated company. The related work was expected to be completed over the following months.

• 2020.06.24

  Reported2020.06.24

  OPPO and Microsoft announce deeper cooperation on AI interactions[10]OPPO与微软宣布深化AI互动合作tech.sina.com.cn

  OPPO and Microsoft announced that they were deepening their cooperation around the Breeno voice assistant's ability to invoke Microsoft Xiaoice; newly unlocked skills expanded the range of everyday conversations.

• 2020.01.08

  Reported2020.01.08

  Microsoft Xiaobing voice service integrated into vivo phones[11]微软小冰语音服务入驻vivo手机tech.sina.com.cn

  Microsoft Xiaobing announced that its voice service had formally become available through the Jovi voice assistant on vivo phones, where users can invoke it by saying “召唤小冰.”

Read more

1. 1Xiaoice on Wikidatawikidata.org
2. 2Xiaoice banned after launching on WeChattech.sina.com.cn
3. 3Xiaoice banned after launching on WeChatm.thepaper.cn
4. 4蓝色光标“分身有术”数字人驱动平台上线初始应用版本finance.sina.com.cn
5. 5小冰岛APP上线公测finance.sina.com.cn
6. 6每日经济新闻与小冰宣布建立战略合作伙伴关系nbd.com.cn
7. 7微软中国与小冰公司宣布战略合作finance.sina.com.cn
8. 8微软任命小冰新公司董事长、首席执行官及日本分部总经理tech.sina.com.cn
9. 9微软宣布分拆小冰业务news.zol.com.cn
10. 10OPPO与微软宣布深化AI互动合作tech.sina.com.cn
11. 11微软小冰语音服务入驻vivo手机tech.sina.com.cn
12. 12微软分拆小冰业务并独立发展 加速本土化创新smartcity.zol.com.cn
13. 13微软分拆小冰业务独立发展it.people.com.cn