Kizuna AI (Japanese: キズナアイ, Hepburn: Kizuna Ai) is a Japanese virtual YouTuber. She has around 5 million followers on YouTube and Bilibili.[6] Kizuna AI posted her first YouTube video on her “A.I. Channel” on 29 November 2016. She opened a second channel, “A.I.Games” on 29 November 2016, and a third channel, “A.I.Channel China” in June 2019 for people in China.
Kizuna says that she is the world's first virtual YouTuber.[7] However the first channel to use a character made with computer graphics on YouTube was Ami Yamato. Kizuna’s videos are similar to many other YouTubers. She does discussions, Q&A videos, and “Let’s Play” videos. Kizuna only speaks Japanese, so fans write translations for her videos. Kizuna has performed at anime gatherings and has also worked with game companies.
Kizuna AI was made by a company called Activ8 in 2016. She is part of a project called "Project A.I.”. In 2018, the project was moved to an in-house agency called “upd8".[8] On 24 April 2020, the project was moved to a new company called Kizuna AI Inc. At the same time, Nozomi Kasuga, a Japanese voice actress, announced that she was the voice of Kizuna AI. Kasuga is also the advisor of the new company. Kizuna AI Inc. started business on 11 May 2020. The CEO is Eriko Matsumoto.
Production
Kizuna is an online virtual character made with software. The people behind Kizuna, such as video animators, producers, video editors, and players of games are unknown. Kizuna’s videos are made by Activ8 in Tokyo.
Personality
Kizuna knows that she is a virtual character and says that she is a self-thinking artificial intelligence.
Kizuna introduces herself in her first video. Her name, “AI” is related to the kanji “愛” meaning love. Her surname “Kizuna” means to connect. Kizuna is designed as a young animated girl.
