Li Jiaqi, China’s livestream shopping star known as the Lipstick King, believes human presenters will remain central to the industry despite slowing growth and the rapid spread of artificial intelligence. The sector expanded from a niche format into a major retail channel, with Li selling billions of dollars in beauty products to more than 100 million followers since he began livestreaming in 2016. Growth is now under pressure from weaker consumer spending: retail sales rose 0.4% year on year in August, down from 0.6% in July, while growth over the first eight months of 2026 was 1.1%. Online retail sales exceeded 36% in 2025, compared with less than 18% in 2021. AI hosts (digital presenters that generate livestream sales content) are reducing costs, with JD.com saying its free AI hosting service, introduced for merchants in December 2025, saw adoption surge within three months and can lower livestream operating costs by 80% to 90%. Li said AI could support human presenters, including by keeping viewers company overnight through an AI version of himself, but could not match the ideas, perspectives, trust and judgment of live hosts. Industry participants including Ashley Dudarenok and Romomo host Lu Lin also pointed to the limits of digital presenters in building customer confidence. Regulators and platforms are tightening controls: rules requiring clear labels for AI-generated content took effect in September 2025, while ByteDance-owned Douyin has banned fully AI-generated livestreams and requires disclosure when digital hosts are used. As profitability becomes more important and discount-led growth fades, Romomo vice president Zhang Junling said competition is shifting away from individual hosts toward scale, technology and operational capabilities.