Ups and downs of Naomi ‘SexyCyborg’ Wu, Chinese tech-loving YouTube star who’s more than just breasts and exposed skin

Wu has almost 1.2 million YouTube subscribers but has been defunded twice, from Patreon and SubscribeStar, leading to huge losses in income

A ‘high femme’ lesbian with breast implants and a penchant for hot pants, she is often accused of pandering to the male gaze but says her look makes her happy

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Chinese YouTube star Naomi “SexyCyborg” Wu in a video where she took 3D scans of herself. Photo: Courtesy of Naomi Wu

Published: 7:30am, 8 Sep 2020Updated: 8:11am, 8 Sep 2020

In a rundown villa on the outskirts of Shenzhen sits Naomi “SexyCyborg” Wu’s apartment workshop. Surrounded by a half-dozen 3D printers, two laser cutters and an industrial milling machine, her workstation is something she could only dream about four years ago.

But it’s all been made possible by the success of the English-language videos the 27-year-old shoots for her almost 1.2 million subscribers on YouTube, be it tech reviews, DIY projects or 360-degree immersive videos of her life in Shenzhen, the hi-tech city in China’s southern Guangdong province bordering Hong Kong.

With 1,250cc breast implants and a penchant for hot pants, her flamboyant appearance brings in the clicks, even though it’s not just skin and boobs that got her this far. But her looks have led to the popular YouTuber being targeted in recent years by critics and the Western media, and that has done more damage than anything else.

Wu has been defunded twice. Her Patreon account was taken down, and an alternate payment processing site she used, SubscribeStar, ran into some financial hiccups. Mainland Chinese YouTubers have limited income options, so a lack of such platforms meant a major loss of finances.

Despite such ordeals, Wu hasn’t given up. “I’m told I’m a bit ferocious, although people on the wrong end often use less kind terms. My family members are working-class Foshan folk; a bit rough around the edges,” Wu says in an email, referring to another city in Guangdong province.

“I’m no fine lady. I was raised hard, by hard people. Those who come to my city looking to make trouble, they expect Chinese girls to be timid and docile, but as any Chinese will tell you, Guangdong doesn’t make them like that,” says Wu, who has spent most of her life in Shenzhen.