These ‘Masturbation Consultants’ Were Hired to Pleasure Themselves With AI
Joi AI recruited ten people to use its AI companion platform during sexual activity as part of a month-long internal study. The company framed the exercise as wellness research aimed at addressing male loneliness.
Why this matters: AI companion apps sit in one of the most sensitive data categories imaginable. They collect behavioral, emotional, and now explicitly sexual information about users. That data has to live somewhere, be processed somehow, and be protected by someone. Joi AI is a small company running a study with almost no public accountability. The loneliness pitch is a real human issue. But the data risk is also real, and people using these apps rarely think about what the platform learns about them or what happens to that information if the company is sold, breached, or simply shuts down.
Who should care: General readers · AI governance · Policy
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