11 November 2026 News

Entertainment : iQIYI officially announced China’s first AI web series authorized by actors, “I Only Admire Immortals, Not Mandarin Ducks,” with Shen Yujie (沈羽洁) and Chen Heyi (陈鹤一) authorizing their likenesses and voices, with AI digital avatars completing the entire on-screen performance, reducing production costs to approximately one-tenth of traditional dramas, regarded as a landmark experiment in the AI actor field. Meanwhile, mainland China’s first AI full-process theatrical feature to obtain a distribution license, “Three-Star Heap: Tales from the Future,” faced dual challenges in box office and critical reception after release, with audiences widely complaining that its digital characters have “too much AI feel” and obvious “fake human sensation,” reflecting the limitations of AI characters in big-screen scenarios. In the short-form drama sector, Jiashanxian (嘉善县) joined with Zheda Zhihui Lvzhou Weilai Yingxiang Shiyanshi (浙大智慧绿洲未来影像实验室) to launch the nation’s first charity-themed AIGC micro short drama “Goodness Welcomes All·Yuan Liuofan,” with a specially designed digital character “Little Yuan” connecting ancient and modern times; Dui Ba (兑吧) Group (01753.HK) transitioned from traditional traffic SaaS business to AI short dramas, leveraging self-developed AI screenwriting agents and digital human filming technology to achieve end-to-end industrialized production from script to final cut, with AI short drama revenue exceeding fifty percent within half a year and achieving monthly profitability. Following the launch of Tencent’s “Lv Paopao Duanju (绿泡泡短剧)” mini program, it collaborated on distributing AI replica human short drama “Best Actress Yaya,” which went viral on both video accounts and mini programs, becoming an important competitive asset against Zijie (字节) and Hongguo Duanju (红果短剧). At the Golden Rooster and Hundred Flowers Film Festival, actor Chen Jianbin (陈建斌) repeatedly discussed the “AI Chen Jianbin” digital avatar, saying its likeness has evolved from “not resembling” to “increasingly resembling,” even creating the illusion for himself of “I never performed this scene,” but he insists that an excellent actor’s soul and spirit cannot be replaced by AI; Qi Wei (戚薇) publicly clarified that he has granted limited authorization for his AI digital avatar for use in specific film and television works, emphasizing retaining final say over aesthetics and details, and believing that AI excels at action scenes but emotional performance still requires real actors to complete.

Sports : Swimming world champion Ning Zetao (宁泽涛) authorized Tmall to generate a personalized AI digital avatar during the Double Eleven shopping festival to participate in “AI-dol” relay live streaming. The avatar can read comments in real time, understand questions, and call upon knowledge bases to answer product inquiries. The champion personally appeared in the live stream alongside the digital avatar to compare muscles and do push-ups. The transition from early AI-generated fan creations to now actively authorizing and fully participating in creation has sparked widespread discussion, though the application has been explicitly positioned as a personal content product with no involvement in swimming competition rules or eligibility. Lenovo, as a Zhongguo Zuqiu Zhiyeliansai Lianhehui (中国足球职业联赛联合会) technology partner and the 2026 FIFA World Cup official technology partner, has launched a 3D digital human visualization solution that converts complex penalty information into intuitive imagery to help viewers understand, and provides Zhongguo Wangqiu Gongkaisai (中国网球公开赛) with an AI customer service system for digital humans based on a hybrid cloud-edge architecture, supporting multimodal interactive services such as schedule inquiries and venue navigation.

Marketing and E-commerce : Around the “Double 11” shopping festival, JD.com created the “Cyber Celebration Night: Time-Travel Surprise Night” gala with the entire program performed by digital humans. JD.com The digital humans of youth procurement officer Daji and influencer Rabbit Girl traveled into “Along the River During the Qingming Festival,” partnering with virtual images of twelve brands including Haier (海尔) and Lenovo to rescue姬 and others, known as “Twelve姬,” performing on the same stage. Combined with JD.com’s proprietary digital human live streaming product JoyAvatar, which has served over 100,000 merchants and generated sales exceeding 1.3 billion yuan in the first half of 11.11; meanwhile, TikTok Shop conducted beta testing of four AI live streaming modes in its beauty section, among which AI digital human live streaming features authorized cloned virtual images or virtual IPs as hosts that deliver preset product information and automatically reply to comments, currently open for application from merchants with a certain follower base and stable sales capability. Shanghai Jinganqu (上海静安区) launched the beauty and health innovation ecosystem community “Mei Chuangjingjie (美创静界)” at the Ninth China International Import Expo, showcasing for the first time the AI digital human “Anya,” jointly created by Jing’an District and “Shiting Jingjie (视听静界),” serving as a digital curator for cross-border and cross-timezone beauty industry resource matching. iFLYTEK won the bid for China Guangfa Bank’s “virtual digital human and intelligent voice project” worth 660,000 yuan, reflecting financial institutions’ continued procurement of digital human applications in customer service scenarios. At the same time, regulatory and consumer protection measures have released concentrated warning signals: Zhongguoxiaofeizhexiehui (中国消费者协会), market supervision departments, and consumer protection committees in multiple regions jointly issued “Double 11” consumption tips, clearly stating that “virtual human live selling” using AI digital humans, AI face-swapping, and synthesized voices, if employing experiential language such as “personally tested and confirmed to work,” essentially constitutes fabricated efficacy claims and is suspected of false advertising, with merchants bearing primary responsibility for the truthfulness of their promotions; Kuaishou’s security center also reminded consumers to be vigilant against fraud tactics involving “AI opening online stores” and “AI live selling,” with the platform having previously exposed compliance controversies involving virtual artist “Fang Taozi” endorsing contact lenses and virtual artist “Underwater” selling prescription drugs; Zhejiang market supervision bureau jointly launched with Taobao, Douyin, Kuaishou and other platforms and twelve leading MCN institutions a “three haves, three don’ts” live streaming e-commerce compliance initiative, clearly requiring that AI digital human live streaming “not use AI to fabricate information” and “not misappropriate likenesses or voices.”

Culture and Heritage : Zhejiangsheng Wenhua Guangdian He Lvyou Xuanchuan Tuiguang Zhongxin (浙江省文化广电和旅游宣传推广中心) has procured the “Zhe Zhe” Digital Culture and Tourism AI Creative Works project for 597,500 yuan, which was won by Beijing Qingbo Intelligence Technology. The content includes AI posters, AI videos, and digital human broadcast works, with continuous content production and social media account operations centered around Zhejiang’s culture and tourism digital human IP “Zhe Zhe.” Jiashanxian (嘉善县) jointly launched with Zhejiang University’s Smart Oasis team the AIGC micro-drama series “Good Welcome to All Under Heaven · Yuan Liaofan,” bringing the digital character Yuan Liaofan and the image of “Little Yuan” to mobile screens and exploring pathways for lightweight expression of classical texts. Hangzhou Linpingqu Qiaosi Jiedao (杭州临平区乔司街道) The Qiaosi Hao Shengyin (乔司好声音) youth lecture team explores a new path of “AI + theoretical advocacy,” with youth lecturers and AI digital humans initiating “cross-temporal dialogue,” polishing the digital advocacy work “A Magical Night at the Party History Museum” for disseminating the party’s theoretical spirit. Keji Ribaoshe (科技日报社) Among the typical cases released at the 2026 Culture and Technology Industry Development Forum it hosted, the mini-game “Digital Jingdezhen · Porcelain Town Little Craftsman” integrates AI digital human technology and employs multimodal datasets to recreate porcelain production scenes from the Song Dynasty through the Ming Dynasty in Jingdezhen, coordinating ten gaming IPs to carry out porcelain culture-themed activities that attracted over 77.5 million participants.

Enterprise and Customer Service : Yixin Group(02858.HK) launched China’s first automotive finance AI smart all-in-one machine at the 2026 World Internet Conference – Wuzhen Summit Wuzhen Summit, enabling users to independently complete all business segments including pre-approval, information collection, card binding and repayment, and contract signing under the full anthropomorphic guidance of an AI smart digital human, compressing a process originally taking about 90 minutes into 15 to 20 minutes. Shenzhen Yongtai Xinxin Technology has focused on intelligent government service hall construction for over twenty years, with its AI digital human guidance/knowledge engine leveraging large models and retrieval-augmented generation technology, supporting multi-turn dialogue memory and Audio2Face technology that fuses speech and expressions, demonstrating “chat-while-conducting-business” unmanned guidance at the Shenzhen Smart Government Affairs Exhibition. Huadajiyin (华大基因) launched an AI contactless health detection terminal i Zhicang (i智舱), leveraging self-developed genomic large model Genos, allowing users to engage in immersive interaction with health intelligence entity BOBO through a virtual human voice interaction engine and multimodal contactless imaging collection technology within the cabin, completing health assessments across five dimensions of facial quality, vision, hearing, cognition, and physique. Shengwang (声网), as a video SDK service provider, supports interactive live streaming linkage enabling virtual stage characters to interact in real-time with remote guests and audiences, providing customized video capture and rendering access capabilities for the production and communication ends of virtual performances and digital content. Beijing Lingxi Shenzhi Technology Co., Ltd., founded by former Baidu Vice President Cao Xiaodong (曹晓冬), enters the digital human, e-commerce and live streaming scenarios, combining generative technology with content production and sales operations. The “Tiance (天策)” AI marketing digital human created by Zhejiang Tianzheng Dianqi (浙江天正电气) drives the transformation of sales models in the electrical industry from experience-driven to data-plus-AI-driven.

Companion and Social AI : Soul(Zhang Lu (张璐) team) was selected as one of Barron’s 2026 China Industry Pioneers 30, and leveraging its self-developed interactive large model Soul X completed an upgrade from a social platform to an “emotion-sensing and interactive” AI ecosystem company. In 2026, it successively open-sourced a real-time digital human generation model SoulX - FlashTalk (SoulX-FlashTalk), a singing synthesis model SoulX - Singer (SoulX-Singer), and a real-time digital human generation model SoulX - FlashHead (SoulX-FlashHead), advancing digital humans and voice capabilities to a scalable commercialization stage, while delivering emotion-sensing and interactive decision-making solutions to embodied AI, content interpretation, and other industries. Tencent officially launched the closed beta for its first proprietary AI game companion Agent “Eci Yuan (鹅次元),” targeting PC gamers with real-time in-game screen perception capabilities. The beta introduced four AI characters with distinct personalities—XiaXia, Shen Lubai, Guyu, and Bella—with specialized optimization for popular games including Valorant, League of Legends, and Counter-Strike, while supporting seamless companion chat across PC and mobile QQ as well as subsequent interactive features such as desktop pets and voice changing.

Ethical and Regulatory Contexts : Around the “selling faces and voices” industrial chain, media investigations have discovered that AI short-drama studios and MCN institutions are purchasing amateur real person portraits and voice authorizations in bulk at compensation ranging from 200 to 1,000 yuan, using them to generate AI short dramas and goods-promotion short videos. Authorizers often find it difficult to track the actual usage scenarios and model training destinations of their materials, with high costs for rights protection and evidence gathering. Gongrenribao (工人日报) investigations similarly point out that faces and voices belong to sensitive personal information, with platforms controlling the pricing, transaction, and exit “three checkpoints,” and certain authorization agreements containing unfair terms. Experts are calling for the establishment of a registration and traceability mechanism for biometric information trading. State media including CCTV have exposed AI “resurrection” of deceased persons’ digital avatars, sparking ethical discussions and concerns that continuously generated content from digital avatars will blur the boundaries between “reality” and “virtuality.” Investigations into MCN institutions targeting elderly square-dancing populations show that industry practitioners have disclosed that merely two or three minutes of real-person video can be used with AI digital human cloning to produce realistic lip-syncing and voice, employed in fake-streaming commodity sales scripts to further induce elderly people to purchase health supplements at high prices. Shandongsheng (山东省) has explicitly clarified in the “15th Five-Year Plan” that it will improve regulatory management of AI-generated content labeling, digital avatars, and actor attribution, and explore establishing an AI audiovisual digital asset intellectual property confirmation mechanism. Zhejiang’s market regulation bureau, in conjunction with mainstream platforms and leading MCN institutions, released a “three have three don’ts” compliance initiative that similarly lists “not fabricating information with AI” and “not misappropriating portraits and voices” as red lines for live-streaming marketing.