6 November 2026 News

Marketing : During the Double Eleven promotion period, Tmall created “AI-dol” digital human relay livestreaming, with six celebrity influencers including Ning Zetao (宁泽涛), Liu Runming (刘润铭), Qi Kexingxing (七颗猩猩), Dian Dilahai (垫底辣孩), Chen Tudou (陈土豆), and Xiao Guanduizhang (晓观队长) authorizing their AI counterparts for the first time to complete relay broadcasts in Tmall’s official livestream room and brand sub-channels such as vivo. Real-life Ning Zetao made a surprise appearance in the livestream to appear on camera alongside his AI clone flexing muscles, with the topic “two Ning Zetao” reaching 11.6 billion views. The technology support provider for this livestream, Nanjing Silicon Intelligence Technology Group Co., Ltd., was founded by Sima Huapeng (司马华鹏). Its founder IP “硅基大司马” has accumulated over 40 million followers across all platforms and provides full-chain AI operation services for personal IPs such as Focusmédia chairman Jiang Nanchun (江南春) and former CCTV host Ai Cheng (艾诚). Its digital human intelligent agent solutions ranked first in China by revenue in 2024 and is now racing to become the “RSI first stock” on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. In another case, the AI anchor “紫樱” incubated by Zaomengci Yuan (造梦次元) platform leveraged Shengshu Technology Vidu S2’s real-time interactive model to launch an “infinite restart” livestream challenge, generating total revenue of 42,000 yuan within 48 hours, demonstrating AI anchors’ capability for real-time banter and instant interaction. During Double Eleven, Yuehua Entertainment CEO Du Hua (杜华) released an apology short video featuring AI virtual character “华华紫” to apologize to singer Xu Fei (许飞) regarding the old matter of group changes in “Sisters Who Make Waves,” with the video simultaneously carrying commercial tags, facing criticism for marketing while apologizing and riding trending topics. After singer Tan Jianci (檀健次)’s new song “Drop” and accompanying dance went viral, numerous brand virtual characters followed suit by imitating its dance moves for marketing and publicity. Meanwhile, AI-generated model images used by e-commerce platforms during Double Eleven have sparked controversy, with some merchants’ AI model images displaying distortions such as three legs, reversed joints, and missing heads yet still labeled “actual product photography.” Lawyer Dai Yao (代瑶) pointed out that if merchants deliberately conceal AI attributes and the actual product differs significantly, consumers can legally claim refund plus triple compensation.

Cultural : In the cultural tourism and culture sectors, Zhengzhou’s Denglijun Shuzi Keji Yinyue Zhongxin (邓丽君数字科技音乐中心) continued to launch AI digital human Deng Lijun (邓丽君) to perform “Sweet as Honey,” “I Only Care About You,” and new song “Coming Home” without authorization despite Denglijun Wenjiao Jijinhui (邓丽君文教基金会) clearly stating it was not authorized, sparking controversy over the boundaries of portrait and voice rights. In Guizhou’s “Colorful Starlight·Youth AI Music” university student AI music-themed event, locally created original AI digital artists “Xinglan” and “Chenye” incorporated Miao and Dong ethnic cultural elements to complete offline performances, regarded as a benchmark case of Guizhou’s big data industry empowering innovation in ethnic music. Ningxia showcased digital human “Ning Xiaomo” and cultural tourism robot “Taoeqibao” and “Qixiaoxia” at the Xiamen Taiwan Strait China (Shenzhen) International Cultural Industry Fair, providing full-process guided tours for the “See Minning·Drama Village” immersive exhibition area. Shandong Province’s “Tourism Industry Development ‘15th Five-Year Plan’” explicitly supports deploying digital human docents at scenic areas and exploring new modes of “artificial intelligence plus mixed reality” tour guidance. Hongkou District, Shanghai released the “Lilun Hongkou” intelligent new IP “Hong Xiaoli” AI digital human, completing its stage presentation debut at the establishment event of the all-domain grand lecture alliance. At the Yangtze River Delta China (Shenzhen) International Cultural Industry Fair, Wenzhou Oucheng’s exhibition area showcased “Aoen AI Yuan Yuzhou You (奥恩AI元宇宙游),” integrating AI digital humans and AR virtual-reality blending modules to serve the operational needs of physical scenic areas. AI-generated opera content has gone viral on short video platforms, with virtual digital humans learning to perform traditional opera forms such as Kunqu and Yueju, raising industry concerns about technology diluting the subtlety of opera aesthetics and stripping away performers’ skill and personal charisma and deeper artistic values.

Ethical Contexts : The rise of “face and voice” part-time work tied to AI short dramas and digital-human livestreaming has drawn widespread attention. Reporters conducting firsthand tests found that one-time facial licensing fees range from 50 yuan to 99,999 yuan, with some platforms taking a 30–40 percent commission. Licensing agreements keep all three levers—pricing, transaction, and exit—firmly in the platform’s hands. Experts note that facial images and voices constitute sensitive personal information: licensors receive only limited compensation, while buyers obtain permanent identity assets that can be copied, resold, and used for training without limit, creating a serious asymmetry of rights and obligations. The Draft Measures for the Administration of Digital Virtual Human Information Services has already introduced regulations governing such conduct. Jiangsusheng Gaojirenminfayuan (江苏省高级人民法院) A landmark case tried by Suzhou Huqiuqu Renminfayuan (苏州虎丘区人民法院)—the country’s first virtual streamer breach-of-contract dispute, published in a set of typical people’s assessor cases jointly issued with the judicial bureau—has attracted considerable attention: a dispute arose when streamer Shi Mou (史某) terminated a contract with an MCN agency, with the case centering on the legal characterization of the virtual persona “Chenghuang” and the assessment of its diminished value. The court empaneled people’s assessors with intellectual-property expertise to sit on the collegial panel, and, weighing the general reusability of the virtual persona, the degree to which it was bound to Shi Mou personal traits, and fan-interaction data, ultimately ruled that Shi Mou pay liquidated damages of 6,200 yuan. The case was selected as one of the “Typical Cases from Yangtze River Delta Courts Serving and Safeguarding the Development of New Quality Productive Forces.”

Entertainment : China’s domestic murder mystery game industry has introduced a new “romantic companion script” format, where players engage in immersive interactive roleplay with virtual romantic characters portrayed by dungeon masters, spawning consumption mechanisms such as “tipping” and “ranking battles.” Some venues charge over a thousand yuan per session, while also exposing risks such as minors making large recharges to replay scripts. In the virtual idol sector, a top voice chat streamer and Zaomengshi (造梦师)’s virtual artist “kong控” suspended continuous livestreaming for over thirty days without rest due to fan disputes, posting that they were mentally and physically exhausted and considering temporary withdrawal from the internet. The artist had previously won multiple honors including first place on both charts in Douyin’s Spring Virtual Challenge, with related topics for the 2025 personal single “Of Course Be Happy” generating over 2 billion plays. Additionally, Diezhi (叠纸) game players experienced wavering emotions invested in virtual characters due to controversies involving the company’s founder, reflecting real tensions between domestic mobile game virtual characters and player emotional attachment.

Enterprise : Jinrong Yi Zhangtong (金融壹账通) and Huawei released an AI auto insurance claims solution. Previously, they built a “AI Jisu Pei (AI极速赔)” system for a leading domestic insurance company, achieving claim approval within 60 seconds for 90% of cases and payment completion within 2 hours for over 2 million cases through interactive virtual digital human claim reporting, intelligent material classification, and AI claims review. Shoulv Jiudian (首旅酒店) revealed it is advancing “AI Digital Store Manager” construction, combining human and digital human operational management models, with AI revenue management, AI knowledge base search, and AI customer review response already achieving high-frequency application scenarios. In cross-enterprise collaboration between Zhiji Qiche (智己汽车) and supplier Momenta, Feishu’s “Doubao Gongzuo Huoban Tag (豆包工作伙伴Tag)” capability was introduced, with a “project management digital human” participating in CCB review meetings, undertaking material verification, on-site Q&A, and post-meeting archival tasks, reducing case material review rework by approximately 30%. Baidu founder Li Yanhong (李彦宏) previously proposed the judgment that “digital humans are a new universal interaction interface of the AI era”; Baidu digital human application “Yijing (一镜)” has accumulated cooperation with over 100,000 customers, covering more than 30 industries. Xinjiang Paigeda Shuju Chanye Fazhan Touzi (新疆派格大数据产业发展投资有限公司), while deepening data annotation business, also develops digital humans and multilingual short dramas and other AIGC content products, and cultivates local digital talent on site, with Uyghur youth Zulipihar·Abudunie serving as the validation group leader for the company’s Alibaba project. Zhaoshang Xinnuo (招商信诺) Hunan branch produced “AI Insurance Professional Takes You Through Insurance Highlights” digital human short videos and “Insurance Tales from the Four Classics” AI micro-dramas in insurance public awareness activities, presenting underwriting, claims, disaster prevention and mitigation service scenarios.

International : The Dakar Youth Olympic Games, as the first Olympic event to land on the African continent in Olympic history, Alibaba (阿里巴巴) created an interactive installation Alibaba Teranga Beat based on Qianwen (千问) large model, allowing participants to experience the rhythm game of Senegal’s traditional Sabar drumming, and then generate AI-produced personal digital avatar short videos wearing traditional Senegalese clothing and dancing to the drum beats. During the opening ceremony, Alibaba Cloud generated drum-striking video clips for approximately 100 young participants from around the world based on Wan 3.0 model, which were ultimately synthesized into a one-minute group portrait short film displayed on the opening ceremony venue’s large screen, achieving facial consistency and architectural scene perspective accuracy under multi-angle continuous transitions.