8 September 2026 News

Marketing : Digital virtual human endorsements are rapidly penetrating brand marketing channels. Yuehua Entertainment Group founder Du Hua introduced at the AIIA Smart Entertainment Committee establishment meeting that digital humans have become an extension of artists’ capabilities and commercial scenarios, with Yuehua strengthening management of digital assets and AI content production. Meanwhile, the AI short-drama protagonist “Fang Taozi” sparked controversy by using first-person voiceover to endorse contact lenses, with the virtual image lacking eyeballs and corneas yet claiming “wearing them all day is very comfortable,” allegedly violating medical device advertising endorsement prohibitions, constituting false advertising, and violating pre-release review and labeling obligations. Lawyer Zhang Wei pointed out that digital humans such as Ling, Liu Yexi, and AYAYI had previously engaged in legal and compliant endorsements, with the key being to avoid prohibited categories and avoid “personally tested” recommendations, with responsibility borne by the operating company behind the virtual image. Beijing Shuangtai Yuan Trading Co., Ltd. was fined 5,000 yuan by the Changping District Market Supervision and Management Bureau for utilizing AI virtual humans for livestream shopping on e-commerce platforms, promoting the ordinary food product “certain Quan’an Powder” with health-related efficacy claims such as “boosting immunity,” becoming Beijing’s first typical case of this kind following the implementation of the Livestream E-commerce Supervision and Management Measures. After Qi Wei authorized her digital avatar “Han Qingxia” to star in the AI animated series “Apocalyptic Midsummer,” her AI image triggered borderline controversy due to upward-angle camera shots, with the digital avatar’s debut appearance encountering controversy. China Academy of Information and Communications Technology Internet Law Center Director He Bo interpreted the Digital Virtual Human Information Service Management Measures (Draft for Public Comment) at the AIIA conference, clarifying that digital virtual human services should comply with personal information and personality rights protection requirements.

Entertainment : AI micro-dramas and digital human technology have achieved deep integration, giving rise to Fujian’s first Fujian-Ningxia cooperation-themed AI micro-drama “Songs of the Desert Fisherman,” jointly produced by the Fujian Radio and Television Bureau and Fujian Radio and Television Group. All 42 episodes feature AI-generated characters, with multiple hosts from Fujian Radio and Television Group performing as AI digital avatars. The series has no professional actors, with all character images derived from Fujian media professionals and film and television workers. It has launched on platforms including Haibo TV, Douyin, iQIYI, and Hongguo Short Drama (红果短剧). The AI micro-drama market has already exceeded 22 billion yuan in the first five months of 2026, with projections to reach 40 billion yuan for the full year. AI accounts for over 95% of micro-dramas in the first quarter. Chen Wei, head of AI technology at Yuewen Group (阅文集团), noted that AI short dramas require over 40 million plays to achieve profitability, but blockbusters represent less than 1% of the market. Companies including Shanghai Chongdie Digital Art Studio and Jingying Technology have shifted toward IP development and overseas expansion. The production cost of digital humans in AI short dramas has plummeted from 300,000 to 600,000 yuan to just tens of thousands or thousands of yuan. Bona Film Group (博纳影业) launched the “Boka One-Click AI Short Drama” product for professional creators. Kling AI (可灵AI) has undertaken preliminary previsualization, shot generation, and visual effects support in projects including “Taiping Years” and “Tanka Family Legends.” Peking University team released the end-to-end oral dialogue system Motion-Omni, which can synchronously generate speech and full-body movements, pushing digital humans and virtual anchors from “recorded broadcast feel” to “live broadcast feel.”

Marketing Ethical : AI short dramas have ignited a new business model of “facial authorization,” enabling ordinary people to earn income without appearing on camera or acting—simply by authorizing their facial images. A staff member from a Sichuan-based digital facial image trading platform explained that digital likenesses are divided into two categories: ordinary people and professional actors. Ordinary people’s likenesses are licensed for approximately 100 yuan per short video, while professional actors are priced based on usage scope and episode length, ranging from 500 yuan to several thousand yuan. The platform takes a proportional commission after each transaction. Within just two months of launch, the platform has facilitated over one hundred orders with a total transaction volume of nearly 70,000 yuan, with actors and online celebrities accounting for eighty percent of the image library. Data collection specialist Ma Yijing introduced that the platform performs standardized processing of raw materials but does not substantially modify a person’s facial features to ensure recognizability. Lawyer Meng Xiangyu cautioned that portrait rights, as personal rights, cannot be completely sold outright, and warned against “blanket authorization” and “perpetual authorization, non-revocable” clauses. Joey Wong (王祖贤) exclusively granted NetEase, Inc. game《Tianxia》the right to use her prime-age likeness from ages 20 to 30 via AI, while 93-year-old You Benchang authorized the “Ji Gong” image for micro short-drama production while retaining review rights. Models such as Qihai (七海) and actress Yu Shuxin have been exposed to suspected AI face-swapping or voice-fusion. Industry reporters going undercover discovered that a complete “face-stealing and face-buying” industrial chain has already been established. Consequently, the《Digital Virtual Human Information Service Management Measures (Draft for Comments)》released in April 2026 explicitly requires that the creation of virtual images using natural persons’ facial features, voices, and other sensitive information must in principle obtain separate consent from the parties involved. The《Micro Short-Drama Development and Management Measures》officially took effect on September 1, drawing eleven content red lines and establishing a classification and grading management mechanism.

Governance : The Supreme People’s Court released the “Opinion on Lawfully Trying Cases Involving Artificial Intelligence Disputes” on September 7th, marking the first judicial ruling document on artificial intelligence issued by the country’s highest adjudicating institution. Si Yanli, deputy director of the Supreme Court’s Research Office, introduced that Article 4 of the Opinion explicitly stipulates that without consent, using artificial intelligence to process a natural person’s name and image to generate recognizable virtual digital forms and use or disclose them constitutes infringement of personality rights; without consent, using a natural person’s voice for sound synthesis constitutes infringement of voice rights; manipulating virtual images or synthesized voices to engage in improper conduct or make false statements constitutes infringement of reputation rights. The Opinion also specifically provides protections for the personality interests of the deceased in the phenomenon of “AI resurrection of the deceased,” whereby near relatives of the deceased may request that the infringer assume liability according to Article 994 of the Civil Code. Regarding behaviors such as “online doxxing” and “human flesh search” that use AI to track and analyze natural persons’ privacy information, Article 5 of the Opinion explicitly establishes that this constitutes infringement of privacy rights. Peking University Law School Professor Zhang Ping systematically reviewed global consensus on artificial intelligence governance at the AIIA Smart Entertainment Committee inauguration meeting, proposing a “seek baseline consensus, allow path differences” approach. The China Artificial Intelligence Industry Development Alliance (AIIA) Smart Entertainment Committee was officially established in Beijing on September 3rd, with witnesses including Wang Aihua, Bi Maning, and Zhu Yifei, with core members including New Classics Media (新丽传媒), Daylight Entertainment (正午阳光), Linmon Media (柠萌影视), Emperor Entertainment, Yuehua Entertainment, iQIYI, Tencent Video, and MiniMax (稀宇科技). Mani Fok (霍汶希), CEO of Emperor Entertainment, stated in a roundtable dialogue that the commercialization of artists’ digital avatars requires establishing a scenario-based authorization mechanism and safeguarding the approval authority of talent management agencies.

Retail Consumer : JD.com JoyAI App launched its first AI digital human “Universal Doctor” capable of real-time video shopping on September 7th, achieving “buy what you see, place orders by speaking.” Users can upload an image to customize the digital human’s appearance, persona, voice tone, and interaction scenarios to generate a personalized AI digital human. Leveraging multimodal technologies including speech, motion, images, and video calls, it supports rich features such as singing, dancing, and dialect interactions. The digital human carries services including food delivery, phone bill top-ups, hotel reservations, health consultations, and financial consulting, based on JD.com ecosystem integration points. The health scenario connects with AI Doctor Dawei intelligent agent, while the financial scenario links with Jingxiaobei, with payment sections powered by JD.com AI Pay. Since the beginning of this year, JoyAI App has seen conversation user growth exceeding 15 times. T3 Travel’s vehicle owner app launched a “Vehicle Owner Health” service section, supported by the AI doctor intelligent agent “Dawei” under JD Health, which has covered over 1,000 types of Chinese and Western medical conditions and co-built over 1,500 “expert intelligent agents” as digital avatars of experts. Shanghai Pudong has introduced AI intelligent recommendation and AI digital human sales assistants and other digitalized services in the 2026 China Farmers’ Harvest Festival Autumn Consumption Season activities.

Cultural Tourism : The 2026 China Cultural Tourism Industry Expo was held in Tianjin, with Jindong Culture Technology (金东文化科技) creating a “Future Ocean” immersive experience project at the Tianjin National Marine Museum, covering approximately 2,000 square meters and utilizing AI digital humans and digital twin technologies to build eight immersive scenarios including a deep-sea submersion cabin, underwater future city, and floating ice theater, where audiences can experience interactive Q&A with AI intelligent entities; China Travel Digital Intelligence Technology launched the Yunjing Cultural Heritage mini-program, supporting intelligent guided tours in eleven languages and AI digital human explanations, which has been launched in over a hundred cultural heritage institutions nationwide; Haidian District in Beijing’s “Hi AI·Tech New Generation” science popularization monthly activities adopted a format combining live hosts with AI virtual characters as dual hosts, staging cross-dimensional scenario dialogue “AI and Youth’s Starry Sky Q&A”; in Beijing’s “Theory Into Heart, Civilization Walking Together” civilization practice campaign, three youth representatives from the “Shangdi Youth New Quality Talk” lecture team performed alongside digital humans in “Youth Spark Moving Forward with Innovation”; at a smart cultural tourism ecosystem conference, relevant enterprises showcased “digital human” projects utilizing AI technology to generate virtual tour guides and customer service.

Finance Insurance : During the 2026 Financial Education and Publicity Week, New China Life Insurance launched an AI digital human video series titled “One-Minute Financial Stories for the People” online to popularize financial knowledge; Ping An Life Insurance Qinghai Branch innovatively applied digital human technology, with the “Ping An Financial Guardian” IP image serving as the spokesperson to explain content, and produced “Digital Human Speaks Consumer Protection” financial consumer protection educational short videos to promote knowledge of online lending risk prevention; China International Capital Corporation launched a digital avatar titled “Analyst·Skill” based on chief computer analyst Yu Zhonghai as the prototype, with deep learning of research reports exceeding 300,000 words, internalizing the “hypothesis-verification-valuation-risk” investment research methodology, achieving 24/7 uninterrupted customer service; Guotai Haitong Securities (国泰海通证券) has cumulatively launched 1,314 intelligent agents and 404 Skills, with “Lingxi Skills” entering Tencent Skill Hub and Huawei Xiaoyi Skills Market as the first batch; Eastmoney’s (东方财富) Miaoxiang Investment Research Assistant entered the Alibaba Cloud platform in the capacity of “the only financial digital employee”; as of the end of July 2026, 32 securities firms have completed algorithm and model registration.