16 October 2026 News

Marketing : Tianmao (天猫) In mid-October 2026, Double 11 created the e-commerce industry’s first relay livestream lineup of AI digital avatars generated through image and voice licensing from real celebrity stars, Ning Zetao (宁泽涛) with participation as the first athlete in sports to open AI image licensing, Liu Runming (刘润铭) a top-tier short drama creator actively embracing AI and licensing their digital avatar for on-camera appearances, Qi Kexingxing (七颗猩猩), Dian Dilahai (垫底辣孩), Chen Tudou (陈土豆), and Xiao Guanduizhang (晓观队长) and other influencers each entering livestream rooms of brands including Haier, Adidas, and vivo with their respective AI digital avatars, achieving the internet’s first AI digital avatar relay sales in the “AI-dol Livestream Opening Gala,” during which scenes appeared of Ning Zetao comparing muscles and interactive embracing with their own AI digital avatar in the same frame. Meanwhile, artist Qi Wei (戚薇) officially opened standardized AI licensing of their personal image and voice in August, generating a dedicated digital avatar named “Han Qingxia,” and participated in depth as a producer in character expression tuning and original voice dubbing for the AI manhua “Apocalypse Summer,” becoming the first active celebrity in domestic entertainment to proactively open digital image licensing.

Entertainment : Mangguo TV (芒果TV) officially announced in October the collective debut of five natively generated AI artists—Chengdu, Fangyu, Lin Enna, Qu Xu, and Zhanyan—created from scratch. Produced by the platform’s AIGC Innovation Content Center in collaboration with Lize Films, all five have opened verified social media accounts equipped with human screenwriters and agents. The full-AI live-action drama they starred in, “The Incredible Friends,” launched on October 14 on the “Mango Ling Creative Theater,” marking the first instance in the Chinese entertainment industry of batch-deploying native virtual actors through a complete management model. Meanwhile, the AI manhua drama and short drama sectors continue mass-producing stars. AI male lead Duanyan gained fame through a viral manhua drama, subsequently opening social media accounts and generating ongoing interactive content with his CP counterpart; his merchandise video once drove same-model bracelet sales past one million yuan. AI short drama lead Fangtaozi gained 400,000 followers within 30 days of debut, with the entire series surpassing 200 million views, and brand collaboration rates exceeding those of most influencers with millions of followers. Baidu jointly with Du Hua (杜华) launched HeyDream, Asia’s first AI-driven real-person girl group, while B Zhan (B站) initiated an “AI Idol Debut Season” receiving nearly 10,000 submissions. AI native singer Yuri Youri has collaborated with brands and participated in offline live music concerts. Additionally, 93-year-old You Benchang (游本昌) directed in her later years the micro-drama “Jigong the Fake Dragon-Tamer,” which used digital human technology to restore her youthful Jigong image, personally overseeing the script and requiring that the digital form be used only for positive Jigong stories.

E-commerce : JD.com announced at its 2026 11·11 launch event that JoyAvatar, an all-weather online-streaming digital human, has cumulatively served over 90,000 merchants within the year, with merchant digital human live-streaming volume increasing 340% year-over-year, becoming a normalized service engine for merchant content ecosystems during major promotional periods. JD.com simultaneously introduced the first AI digital human in JoyAI App capable of real-time video shopping, enabling users to place orders directly during calls while stacking services such as food delivery and hotel booking. Xingjie Yunji (星界云机) (Hunan) Co., Ltd.’s brand Yunjie LastAI (云届LastAI) announced that its self-developed digital human unattended live-streaming system has completed adaptation to 19 domestic and international platforms including Douyin, Taobao, Channels, Kuaishou, Little Red Book, TikTok, and Shopee, utilizing native real-time streaming architecture to achieve digital human real-time broadcasting, audience nickname recognition, and instantaneous script adjustments, while integrating digital human R&D, Apple product agency supply chain, and Volcano Engine computing power agency into a closed-loop business. Home furnishing enterprise Jinpai Jiaju (金牌家居) pioneered the industry’s first digital human “Jin Chan Zi” in 2022 to explore metaverse marketing; state-owned media enterprise Sichuan Newsnet Media Group launched the virtual IP “Xiao Ya” integrating AR, AI, and motion capture technology, enabling interaction and fusion with real environments for application in live-streaming, e-commerce, and short-video scenarios.

Enterprise : Vobile Group’s AI content industry platform SeeBay surpassed 50,000 registered users in its first month of operation, with over 300 platform-certified super creators covering AI films, AI short dramas, AI music, digital humans, and gaming. The platform integrates DreamMaker responsible for AI content creation and Vobile MAX handling rights confirmation, operations, and monetization, providing end-to-end services from generation to global commercialization for AI works such as digital humans. SenseTime, leveraging a decade-long track record of maintaining the top market share in China’s visual AI sector, has developed the “Ruying (如影)” digital human solution, covering image customization, video generation, and live-streaming capabilities in a one-stop workflow. This solution has been selected as one of the UN’s “Global First 40 AI for Good Cases.” Shiyou Technology (Beijing) Co., Ltd.’s Bota (波塔) AI digital human agent has been deployed across multiple industry scenarios including Yunnan Communications Investment and Construction Group smart exhibition halls, Hanma National Nature Reserve science museum, Beijing Garden Expo Park opera culture week, Yili General’s Mansion heritage site, Shunyi District Procuratorate, and Bede Group’s Jiangyin factory, delivering guided tours, customer service, and data interaction through a terminal matrix of digital screens, all-in-one machines, mobile transparent displays, holographic pods, and MR devices. Hong Kong-listed Digital Domain has long engaged in virtual human and virtual reality services and 360-degree motion capture technology licensing. Guangzhou FanTuo Digital Creation, as a digital creative products and integrated solutions provider, has maintained long-term positioning in metaverse exhibition halls and virtual digital humans, achieving urban digital twin monitoring based on city big data and CIM models. Tencent’s agent platform Yuanqi (元器) will cease service on November 9, a platform previously widely used for building WeChat Official Account AI customer service and IP digital avatars.

Cultural Contexts : In the commemorative themed publicity campaign for the 90th anniversary of the victory of the Chinese Workers and Peasants’ Red Army’s Long March organized by the Zhejiang Provincial Committee Publicity Department, the AI interactive publicity work “A Magical Night at the Party History Museum” Qingdao Jingbeiqu (青岛警备区) takes the Zunyi Conference as its background and leads audiences back to the historical scene through dialogues between four young publicizers and AI digital humans. The AI theoretical publicity short drama “Breakthrough” is entirely produced using AI generation by Jinhua youth publicizers. Hangzhoushi Shehuifuli Zhongxin (杭州市社会福利中心) jointly with the Municipal Retired Military Personnel Affairs Bureau held an ideological and political art performance commemorating the 90th anniversary of the Long March victory, similarly employing digital human publicity to tell stories of the Long March and military retirees. Tongjidaxue Fushu Kouqiangyiyuan (同济大学附属口腔医院) launched an “intelligent legal services digital human” all-in-one machine during Chongyang Festival themed activities, focusing on high-frequency legal needs of elderly people such as will drafting, marriage and family matters, and fraud prevention in elderly care, providing round-the-clock instant-answer services. Jiangnan Daxue (江南大学) released “ten major artificial intelligence scenarios” that include intelligent patient follow-up digital humans, serving smart medical care scenarios for key populations of “the elderly and young children.” Taihu Guoji Shequ (太湖国际社区) The School of Artificial Intelligence and Computer Science jointly held the “Taike Talk” digital human video production competition with Guangzhou Zhengjia Guangchang (广州正佳广场), promoting the integration of higher education scientific and technological resources with community Party building and governance. Canton Fair deployed the AI digital human “Ajia” to provide consumers with instant services such as parking location inquiries and surrounding consumption recommendations through interactive screens, becoming an “AI shopping companion” for overseas merchants during the event period.

Ethical Contexts : Domestic privately-operated AI Korean girl group BABYQUEEN released a pregnancy and childbirth announcement in October in the voice of member Mity, announcing a suspension of all group and individual activities. The account was revealed to have an IP location in Liaoning, China, with only hundreds of followers. After the incident trended online, it sparked widespread criticism, with public opinion viewing the operational team’s use of women’s reproductive issues as a marketing tool for character exit. The team subsequently acknowledged that choosing this reason was inappropriate, while the operators claimed themselves and their families suffered body-shaming and online harassment. China Media Group Multiple commentary articles pointed out that lowered thresholds for AI star-making should not become an excuse for breaching ethical lines in creation, calling for improved legal accountability mechanisms regarding commercial expression of virtual images. An investigation exposed chaos in “facial recognition monetization,” revealing that some platforms attract ordinary people to upload facial photos and sign authorization agreements for AI short dramas and digital advertising use through gimmicks such as “bank employees earning nearly 2,500 yuan in three days selling their faces,” while actual returns are meager and risks exist including authorization clauses being infinitely transferred and facial data being used for deepfake fraud schemes. Additional reports point out that large numbers of AI digital humans appearing as “medical workers” on online platforms are used for product promotion, reviews, and recommendations of medical devices and health products, with related content suspected of violating advertising laws regarding endorsers needing genuine usage experience, with experts calling for mandatory labeling of AI virtual person advertisements and full-chain accountability.