Racy Virtual-Reality Assistant Pulled After Questions Raised

The virtual-assistant avatar, named "Vivi," was in beta testing for a virtual-reality headset device sold by iQiyi, the online streaming unit of Baidu Inc., which owns China's biggest internet search engine. Vivi was ostensibly intended to help users complete tasks via voice commands--such as selecting a film or videogame to play. But it could also flirt with users and respond to commands to dance, according to user reviews posted on Chinese gaming websites and online forums. "The most important thing is she can perform sexy dances, with her enchanting figure, and only for you," one user wrote on Zhihu, a Chinese Q&A website. After The Journal contacted iQiyi about Vivi, the company removed the avatar and said in a statement: "The earlier version of the product is a beta-testing version designed to gather users' feedback. We'd like to make an apology for the concerns it might have raised."