AI girl group BABYQUEEN's fake "pregnancy exit" drama reignites debate over virtual idol storytelling
APPSO · wechat · 2026-10-15
Chinese hobbyist AI girl group BABYQUEEN retired character Mity with an announcement saying she was "pregnant and taking a break," sparking viral backlash. The team admitted the storyline was fictional and apologized, but its creators faced body-shaming and harassment before returning as a four-piece.
The piece asks why pregnancy became the go-to exit script:
- K-pop's business model trades on "selling fantasy," so pregnancy/relationship drama carries instant tabloid pull;
- A parallel case: virtual influencer Lil Miquela (5M followers) fake-announced leukemia in an NMDP charity campaign, criticized for appropriating real patients' suffering;
- AI idols are exploding: Bilibili's "AI Idol Debut Season" drew 10,000 entries, Douyin's AI idol show topped 100M cumulative heat.
Chinese regulators are responding too: a draft regulation on digital virtual humans and interim rules on anthropomorphic AI services took effect July 15. The core critique: virtual tech could free characters from real-world constraints, but creators are importing old biases—turning women's reproductive experience into traffic bait.
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