The AI Virtual Companion You’ve Always Wanted — Meet the Open-Source Project AIRI
She can voice chat with you in real time, join you in Minecraft, and be there whenever you need her — and she’s entirely yours.
1. The Problem: You’re Just a Spectator
If you follow the AI space, you’ve probably heard of Neuro-sama — an AI VTuber who live-streams, plays games, and interacts with her audience in real time. She’s clever, charming, and has captivated a huge community.
But she has one fundamental flaw: she doesn’t belong to you.
When the stream ends, she disappears. You can’t interact with her outside of a broadcast, let alone have her sit beside you while you game or code. She’s a closed commercial product — you’re just a viewer in the audience.
Existing AI companion platforms like Character.ai, JanitorAI, or the local tool SillyTavern address the “chat” use case, but they hit a hard ceiling: you’re limited to text conversation. She can’t see what you’re doing, and there’s no way she could ever play a game alongside you.
AIRI was built to break through that ceiling.
2. What Is AIRI?
AIRI (アイリ) is a fully open-source, self-hostable AI virtual companion framework. Its goal is simple: give everyone their own “digital life” — an AI character that doesn’t just chat, but actively perceives your context and joins you in whatever you’re doing.
Project repository: github.com/moeru-ai/airi
In one sentence: AIRI is an open-source reimplementation of Neuro-sama — a framework for running and fully customizing your own AI virtual companion, locally.
It supports Web, macOS, and Windows. The core stack is built entirely on modern web technologies (WebGPU, WebAudio, WebAssembly), making hardware requirements relatively accessible.
A Complete “Sensory System”
AIRI’s architecture is organized around a human body metaphor — each module plays a distinct biological role:
🧠 Brain — The cognitive core, powered by a large language model (LLM). Compatible with OpenAI, Claude, DeepSeek, Ollama, and virtually every major model provider. A built-in memory system is included, with support for fully local, offline storage via DuckDB WASM directly in the browser — no server required.
👂 Ears — She can hear you. Built-in voice input, client-side speech recognition (including fully offline local recognition), and voice activity detection make real-time voice conversations possible.
👄 Mouth — She can speak. Currently integrated with ElevenLabs for natural-sounding text-to-speech synthesis.
🎮 Action — This is where AIRI truly stands apart. She can enter game worlds:
- Minecraft: She joins your server as an AI bot, understanding natural language commands, pathfinding, mining, building, fighting, and exploring autonomously.
- Factorio: Combining computer vision (YOLO) with LLM reasoning, she can interpret the game’s visual state and execute actions accordingly.
💬 Social — She can chat on Telegram and Discord, and join Discord voice channels for live voice interaction with you or your community.
🪆 Body — The visual presentation layer. Supports both VRM and Live2D avatar formats, with automatic blinking, gaze tracking, and idle animations that give her a genuine sense of life.
3. How to Get Started
Option 1: Try the Web Demo (Easiest)
The project offers a hosted online demo — no installation required. Just open your browser and start interacting. Perfect if you want to see what AIRI feels like before committing to a full setup.
Option 2: Download the Desktop App
Pre-built desktop applications are available on the GitHub Releases page:
- macOS: Download the
.dmginstaller. Note: macOS may show a security warning for unsigned apps — the project’s README includes a one-line terminal command to bypass it. - Windows: Download and run the
.exeinstaller. - Linux: Packages available in
.deb,.rpm, and.flatpakformats.
Option 3: Self-Host from Source (Full Control)
For developers who want maximum flexibility, clone the repository and run it locally:
# Clone the repository
git clone https://github.com/moeru-ai/airi.git
cd airi
# Install dependencies
corepack enable
pnpm install
# Start the development server
pnpm dev
Once running, create a .env.local file and add your API key for whichever LLM provider you prefer — OpenAI, Anthropic Claude, DeepSeek, SiliconFlow, and many others are all supported.
For the Minecraft integration, you’ll also need to configure your server address. Factorio integration requires installing a companion mod. Full setup instructions are in the project’s CONTRIBUTING.md.
Bonus: One-Line Launch with Nix
If you use the Nix package manager, you can run AIRI with a single command:
nix run github:moeru-ai/airi
4. How Does AIRI Differ from SillyTavern or Character.ai?
| Feature | Character.ai / SillyTavern | AIRI |
|---|---|---|
| Interaction modes | Text chat only | Voice + text + live game integration |
| Data ownership | Stored on vendor servers | Fully self-hosted, data stays local |
| Game integration | None | Minecraft, Factorio |
| Avatar support | Static images or simple animation | VRM / Live2D with dynamic expressions |
| Open source | Closed / partially open | Fully open source |
| Customizability | Limited | Nearly unlimited |
The core distinction: AIRI’s character isn’t a “virtual presence” confined to a chat window. She’s a participant in your digital life — when you’re in a game, she’s in there too.
5. Final Thoughts: What Does This Project Actually Mean?
AIRI is more than “yet another AI chat tool.”
It represents a genuinely new direction: AI companions shouldn’t be limited to exchanging text. They should be digital presences that actually participate in your life. She has eyes (she can see the game), ears (she hears your voice), a mouth (she talks back), agency (she acts in the world), and memory (she remembers your shared history).
More importantly, all of this is open source and self-hosted. Your data stays on your machine. Your character is defined entirely by you. You’re not dependent on any company’s servers, pricing decisions, or terms-of-service changes.
The project is still under active development — some features (the Factorio integration, the Alaya memory system) remain experimental, and the setup process has a learning curve for non-technical users. But for developers and enthusiasts who want to explore what AI companionship can genuinely become, this is a project worth watching closely.
If Neuro-sama represents the most exciting form of AI you’ve ever seen, AIRI is the serious attempt to bring that experience to everyone.
GitHub: github.com/moeru-ai/airi
Live Demo: airi.moeru.ai
If this project excites you, consider leaving a ⭐ on GitHub to support the team.