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The story of digital humans in Macau begins in earnest in August 2019, when Legend Heroes Park opened at Studio City Macau, located on Level 2 of the East Wing in Cotai. The 25,000-square-foot technology-based entertainment park was developed by Vega Global as a strategic partner of Samsung (三星), and brought permanent KPOP hologram concerts to the territory, featuring holographic performances of K-pop artists including G-Dragon, BIGBANG, 2NE1, PSY, and AOA on a dedicated holographic stage. Concerts ran every 45 minutes across four themed zones that combined virtual reality, augmented reality, holographic technology, and motion tracking, establishing the park as the first major commercial deployment of holographic performer technology in Macau and remaining operational as a permanent installation following its opening.
The next significant wave of activity arrived in January 2024, when the Macau Chain Franchise Chamber of Commerce hosted an intellectual property seminar at the Greater Bay Area Intellectual Property Consultation Service Center specifically to promote understanding of digital human technology among Macau's small and medium enterprises. This event marked the beginning of a notably concentrated period of institutional and commercial activity that would unfold across the remainder of the year.
In June 2024, Huawei (华为) collaborated with BEYOND Expo 2024 to explore how technology innovation, including digital human applications, could assist Macau's ongoing economic diversification efforts. That same period saw the Macau University of Science and Technology convene the 2024 Macau Parallel Tourism Symposium in September 2024, focusing on artificial intelligence and sustainable smart tourism, with dedicated discussions on the potential role of digital humans in future tourism ecosystems. These two events reflected a parallel track of activity unfolding simultaneously: one driven by the technology industry seeking commercial footholds in Macau, and another driven by academic and government institutions seeking to understand how such technologies might reshape the territory's core hospitality and tourism economy.
In October 2024, the "Chasing the Brightest Light" Technology and Culture Celebrity Macau Trip provided a platform for the founder of Silicon Intelligence (硅基智能) to introduce digital human technology applications to participants during the cultural exchange event, bringing one of China's leading digital human companies into direct contact with Macau's cultural and business community.
November 2024 proved especially dense with activity. The Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Youth AI Dream Camp concluded that month at Macau Kaoyip Secondary School, with over 130 students attending on-site and engaging in creative activities that included AI-generated content creation using Tencent (腾讯) Hunyuan and three-dimensional metaverse art design, alongside presentations featuring digital human technology demonstrations and educational applications. Shortly afterward, youth from the Greater Bay Area presented technology innovations including digital human applications as part of Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Youth Cooperation activities commemorating the 25th anniversary of Macau's return to China.
Also in November 2024, MGM opened the exhibition "cAI™: Soul Scan" at Navy Yard No. 1 in the Barra District, housed within the Macau Contemporary Art Center. The exhibition marked the debut solo show of cAI™, a custom multi-modal AI model developed by contemporary artist Cai Guo-Qiang, which featured over ten distinct digital personas — among them simulations of Einstein, Nietzsche, and Ptolemy — and performed as a gunpowder painter, fireworks master, and diviner, interacting with audiences through digital fireworks co-creation installations and an interactive "cAI™ Divination Room" equipped with robotic arms. Nearly 80,000 digital fireworks were generated through public interaction during the exhibition's run, which extended through June 2025.
December 2024 brought several landmark developments in rapid succession. The 2024 Macau International Convergent Media Forum and Macau Intelligent Digitalization Symposium were held jointly at the Macau University of Science and Technology under the theme "Human-AI Coexistence · Future," featuring discussions on digital human applications in media and technology sectors, the release of an AI-generated video work titled "AI · Macau 25 Years" at the opening ceremony, and the signing of a strategic cooperation agreement to produce a dedicated Macau AI Development White Paper.
Later in December 2024, "Macau 2049," an eighty-minute resident show directed by Zhang Yimou and produced by Pansy Ho of MGM China, premiered at MGM Theater inside MGM Cotai. The production represented the most technologically ambitious live entertainment deployment in Macau's history to that point, featuring holographic visuals directed by British holographics specialist Dominic Faraway, humanoid robots performing alongside human dancers in a chapter titled "Yangge · Robots," biomimetic robotic creatures in the forms of flying manta rays and sea turtles suspended above the audience, and AI-integrated multimedia presentations across eight chapters blending Chinese intangible cultural heritage with advanced technology. The show was created by twenty world-class production teams involving 582 professionals from more than twenty countries and launched as an ongoing residency running five days per week. Rounding out December 2024, Macau Telecom (澳門電訊) launched AI-powered tourism services capable of generating customized Macau one-day itineraries in ten seconds, utilizing digital human technology to enhance its mobile tourism service offerings.
The momentum carried into early 2025. In February 2025, the City Digital Economy (Macau) Innovation Center held its opening ceremony at Macau Telecom's Gaodi Wu Street headquarters, establishing a new institutional hub aimed at cultivating artificial intelligence industry talent in Macau. The following month, in March 2025, Macau Telecom and Baidu (百度) Smart Cloud formally unveiled the center as a hub for AI, cloud computing, big data, and Internet of Things development, with the center delivering Macau's first AI training course officially recognized by China's Ministry of Industry and Information Technology and hosting competitions and seminars to develop local expertise in the field.
In April 2025, the 13th Macau International Tourism Industry Expo opened with AI digital humans featured as a prominent new addition to the event. AI digital humans made their debut as hosts and virtual anchors at the Macau Travel Expo 2025 — the first such deployment at this major government-organized expo — during the event's run at Halls A, B, and C of Cotai Expo at The Venetian Macao, which hosted 755 exhibitors from 70 countries and regions and facilitated over 10,000 business matching sessions. The expo also incorporated AI audio real-time translation and a three-dimensional smart exhibition navigation system alongside its new digital human features.
In May 2025, at the opening ceremony of the fifth edition of BEYOND Expo 2025 at The Venetian Macao, co-founders Jason Ho and Lu Gang presented event highlights via robotic avatars produced by Shenzhen-headquartered UBTech (优必选), showcasing robotic avatar technology before an audience that ultimately encompassed over 1,200 exhibitors and 30,000 visitors across the three-day event.
In June 2025, Baidu launched an exclusive e-commerce solution for Macau supporting 10,000 merchants with free AI digital human live-streaming services, centered on its "Huiboxing" (慧播星) digital human live-streaming platform. The solution offered traffic support, platform subsidies, official Macau merchant branding, professional team guidance, and joint livestream sessions timed to the Greater Bay Area Shopping Festival to help local merchants expand their reach into mainland China, with Huiboxing operating over 100,000 digital human anchors across China at the time of the launch and ranking first in IDC's industry assessment for e-commerce digital human live streaming.
In July 2025, MGM cAI™ Lab 2.0 opened at Fantasy Box inside MGM Macau as part of Art Macao: Macao International Art Biennale 2025. The installation advanced the development of the cAI™ AI model through a "Firework Function" powered by over 80,000 audience contributions that enabled the AI to analyze human behavior, simulate emotional responses, and co-create digital fireworks, and through a "cAI™ Hotline" through which visitors could interact with the AI entity and receive personalized love poems. The exhibition ran through September 2025, extending the presence of the cAI™ project well beyond its original debut at the Macau Contemporary Art Center the previous year and cementing MGM's position as the territory's leading institutional patron of AI-embodied artistic experience.
[Mar 2026]
2025
June 11, 2025: Baidu launched an exclusive e-commerce solution for Macau supporting 10,000 merchants with free AI digital human live streaming services.
May 25, 2025: Tencent Marketing Academy (eschool.qq.com) offered courses on digital humans for marketing, including Macau (+853) registration options.
April 29, 2025: 300 Macau youth participated in AI application experiences in Qin’ao, exploring AI digital human “clone” effects that save work time.
April 27, 2025: AI digital humans made their debut at the Macau Travel Expo 2025, with experience dates from April 25-27.
April 30, 2025: The 13th Travel Expo featured over 10,000 business matching sessions and introduced “AI digital humans” for the first time.
April 25, 2025: The 13th Macau International Tourism (Industry) Expo opened with AI digital humans as a new feature.
March 25, 2025: Tencent Advertising (tencentads.com) offered practical experience courses for digital human live streaming with free early bird tickets limited to 200 companies.
March 14, 2025: 56 companies entered the Cross-border E-commerce (Huafa) Innovation Industrial Park, with AI algorithms used for digital human creation.
March 4, 2025: Macau Telecom and Baidu Smart Cloud unveiled the City Digital Economy (Macau) Innovation Center.
February 26, 2025: The City Digital Economy (Macau) Innovation Center opening ceremony was held at Macau Telecom’s Gaodi Wu Street headquarters to cultivate AI industry talent in Macau.
2024
December 17, 2024: Macau Telecom – Launched AI-powered tourism services that can customize Macau one-day itineraries in 10 seconds and utilized digital human technology to enhance mobile tourism services.
December 3, 2024: Macau International Media Forum – Hosted the Macau International Media Forum and Macau Intelligent Digitalization Symposium, featuring discussions on digital human applications in media and technology sectors.
November 14, 2024: Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Youth Cooperation – Youth from the Greater Bay Area presented technology innovations including digital human applications to commemorate the 25th anniversary of Macau’s return to China.
November 11, 2024: Guangdong Province Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Youth AI Dream Camp – The camp concluded with presentations featuring digital human technology demonstrations and educational applications.
October 17, 2024: “Chasing the Brightest Light” Technology and Culture Celebrity Macau Trip – Silicon Intelligence founder introduced digital human technology applications during the cultural exchange event.
September 10, 2024: Macau University of Science and Technology – Hosted the 2024 Macau Parallel Tourism Symposium focusing on artificial intelligence and sustainable smart tourism, with discussions on digital humans in future tourism ecosystems.
June 4, 2024: BEYOND Expo 2024 – Huawei collaborated with BEYOND Expo to explore how technology innovation, including digital human applications, can assist Macau’s economic diversification.
May 25, 2024: Fujian-Macau Cooperation – The first university-enterprise joint laboratory between Fujian and Macau was established, focusing on virtual digital human and AI technology integration for IP operations and digital cultural tourism.
January 15, 2024: Macau Chain Franchise Chamber of Commerce – Hosted an intellectual property seminar at the Greater Bay Area Intellectual Property Consultation Service Center to promote understanding of digital human technology among Macau SMEs.