On April 23, China’s short-video platform Douyin announced a major crackdown on AI-generated content, with a particular focus on the growing phenomenon of so-called “AI CEO” characters that have been misleading elderly users.
According to the platform, a total of 31,000 pieces of inappropriate content have been removed, 1,317 accounts have been penalised, and more than 538,000 AI-related infringing videos have been cleared as part of the enforcement action.
The “AI CEO” trend has recently become one of the most common types of violations flagged by regulators. These videos use deepfake technology, including AI face-swapping and voice synthesis, to create fictional wealthy, emotionally attentive male personas. In many clips, these virtual characters appear in luxury settings, dressed in suits, speaking gently, and addressing viewers as “sister” while making romantic promises such as marriage proposals or gifts of houses and cars.
Despite disclaimers indicating that the content is AI-generated, many elderly users reportedly still believe the narratives to be real. Some have even left contact details in comment sections or prepared for imagined meetings with these virtual figures.
Local media reports have highlighted several cases illustrating the impact of such content. In one incident, a 70-year-old woman was allegedly persuaded by an AI-generated “CEO boyfriend” to repeatedly purchase health products and household items through e-commerce links, resulting in large amounts of unused stock piling up at home.
In another case, an elderly woman in her 80s reportedly paid around 2,000 yuan for an online “wealth course” promoted by a so-called AI lover, believing it to be a genuine opportunity for financial improvement.
Authorities say such content exploits the emotional vulnerability and lower digital literacy of older users, often framing itself as companionship or “romantic late-life love”, while in reality forming part of monetisation schemes or potential scam networks driven by traffic and sales conversion.
