Yuandian Technology

GENiEX, a new AI walkie-talkie toy from Hangzhou studio Yuandian Technology, lets users press a talk button for voice conversations with characters from the studio's self-created sci-fi worldview. The company says that setting draws on about ten years and roughly four million characters of material.

On Kickstarter, the project hit its goal in about an hour and had raised $134,500 from 429 backers, more than 1,000% funded, with the campaign expected to close in early October. Founder Zhou Baixiang frames GENiEX as competing on IP and cultural content rather than model parameters.