Angie
Angie (Chinese name 阿喜) is a CGI virtual influencer created by Jesse Zhang, director of a Shenzhen-based CGI animation company. She took shape in July 2020 and her first Douyin video went up about three months later; by December 2020 she had nearly 100,000 fans. Unlike other Chinese virtual influencers she is deliberately imperfect: dry skin, acne marks, crooked teeth, white tees, yawning on camera. Coverage describes her as playing guitar and piano and performing to small crowds, but says she does not promote songs. In August 2021 she had over 280,000 Douyin followers; by 2022 China Daily put her at over 300,000 across Weibo and Douyin.
- Since
- 2020
- Last updated
- 15 October 2026
- Nature
- AI persona
- Niche
- Lifestyle
- Style
- Photorealistic
- Debut
- 2020
- Origin
- Shenzhen, China
- Created by
- Jesse Zhang
Summary
Angie (Chinese name 阿喜) is a CGI virtual influencer created by Jesse Zhang, director of a Shenzhen-based CGI animation company. She took shape in July 2020 and her first Douyin video went up about three months later; by December 2020 she had nearly 100,000 fans. Unlike other Chinese virtual influencers she is deliberately imperfect: dry skin, acne marks, crooked teeth, white tees, yawning on camera. Coverage describes her as playing guitar and piano and performing to small crowds, but says she does not promote songs. In August 2021 she had over 280,000 Douyin followers; by 2022 China Daily put her at over 300,000 across Weibo and Douyin.
Is Angie AI?
Yes. Angie (阿喜) is a computer-generated virtual influencer, not a real person, created by Jesse Zhang, director of a Shenzhen-based CGI animation company, and posted on Douyin and Weibo since 2020.
The sources agree that Angie is not a real person. China Daily's 2021 bilingual version of a CNN report calls her "an imperfect virtual personality" and says "she's not even a real person". It names her maker as Jesse Zhang, director of a Shenzhen CGI animation company, who began building her in July 2020 and posted her first Douyin video within three months. Her Weibo bio calls her a virtual idol (虚拟偶像), and virtualhumans.org and a 2022 China Daily feature on virtual influencers say the same. No page names a model, actor or voice performer behind her face or body.
There is one caveat. Angie is a 3D CGI character that a studio animates. No page says she is made with generative AI, so "AI" here means a computer-made persona with no human performer, not one produced by an image or video generator. The evidence is good but thin: a single CNN-derived report with Zhang's quotes, which the other pages repeat.
Some things are still unknown. The pages do not say who writes her replies to fans (China Daily only quotes "Angie" answering), whether her videos have a human voice, or how her motion is made. The studio is never named, and the coverage stops in 2022.
Evidence
China Daily, carrying CNN's report, says Angie is "not even a real person" but "an imperfect virtual personality" created by Jesse Zhang, director of a Shenzhen-based CGI animation company.
language.chinadaily.com.cnThe same report says Angie took shape in July 2020 and that within three months Zhang posted his character's first video to Douyin.
language.chinadaily.com.cnAngie's Weibo account 阿喜Angie describes her in its bio as a virtual idol (虚拟偶像阿喜Angie).
weibo.comA 2022 China Daily feature on CGI virtual influencers names Chinese CGI creator Jesse Zhang as the maker of Angie, who has uneven skin and acne scars.
chinadaily.com.cnvirtualhumans.org lists Angie among China's virtual KOLs and says Zhang designed her with a Shenzhen-based CGI firm for Chinese social media.
virtualhumans.org
Assessed 13 October 2026