Li Yizhou's Personal Video Account Banned from Followers, 199-Yuan AI Course Removed from Douyin
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On February 22, controversies surrounding internet celebrity 'AI Godfather' Li Yizhou's alleged 'scalping' and false advertising continue to escalate. Today, many netizens reported that Li Yizhou's Douyin account has removed the 199-yuan 'AI Course for Everyone' video lessons from its shopping window, and his personal WeChat video account has also been banned from followers.
As of noon on the 22nd, no AI-related products could be found in Li Yizhou's Douyin shopping window, with only his published books still available for sale.
Red Star Capital Bureau discovered that Li Yizhou's personal WeChat video account has been banned from followers, but his official video account 'Li Yizhou AI' remains accessible.
Additionally, according to The Paper, Li Yizhou's WeChat mini-program 'Yizhou Yike,' used for selling AI courses, has been suspended due to violations of the 'Interim Provisions on the Development and Management of Public Information Services for Instant Messaging Tools.' Currently, the 'Yizhou Yike' mini-program cannot be found, and all services of another mini-program, 'AI Course for Everyone,' are unavailable.
It is reported that Li Yizhou sold AI courses in his live streams under the name 'AI Course for Everyone,' priced at 199 yuan. Data from third-party platform Feigua shows that Li Yizhou hosted 476 live streams in 2023, with an average price per customer of 200-300 yuan, sales ranging from 100,000 to 250,000, and total live stream revenue between 25 million and 50 million yuan. Furthermore, Li Yizhou also sold courses on WeChat Video Accounts, with the aforementioned course selling 33,000 copies. While Li Yizhou was making a fortune selling his AI course, users who purchased it began questioning its quality. On February 21, Ms. Zhou (a pseudonym), who bought Li Yizhou's ChatGPT training course on Douyin, told Red Star Capital Bureau that she had expected a benchmark in China's AI industry given Li's claimed status as a Tsinghua University Ph.D. However, after completing the course, she found it not worth the price, consisting merely of repackaged online tutorials with little educational value, and concluded that self-study would have been more effective.
On the same day, reports emerged that dissatisfied users demanded refunds after purchasing Li Yizhou's AI course, leading to his teaching assistants disbanding group chats. This incident has sparked online criticism accusing Li Yizhou of 'scamming' with his AI course. Some netizens have also questioned whether Li's self-proclaimed identity as a Tsinghua University STEM Ph.D. aligns with reality, raising concerns about potential false advertising.