July 2026 News

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30 July News

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28 July News

Marketing: Baidu (百度) leveraged its digital human platform for Coca-Cola during the 2026 World Cup by deploying a real-time interactive digital human of former football star Fan Zhiyi (范志毅). This AI companion engaged over 300,000 users, with an average interaction time exceeding two minutes, by analyzing matches, discussing related food and beverage topics, and facilitating brand engagement. Separately, a report on the "CTR Shujing" (CTR数镜) digital twin consumer insight platform details how digital humans were used to represent and analyze fan behaviors across seven major Chinese regions during the World Cup, providing brand marketing analysis for subscription video-on-demand platforms. In the home furnishings sector, Gold Home (金牌家居) introduced its digital human "Jin Chanzi" (金婵紫) as a marketing tool to engage younger consumers with its brand within the metaverse, as detailed in financial stock analyses. Wasu Media (华数传媒) also features its own metaverse virtual human "Ai Jia" (艾珈), which it uses for brand exploration in the digital space. For the 2026 Intangible Cultural Heritage Noodle Conference, the organizers invited creators on Douyin to use digital human technology to create innovative short films and content about local noodle culture.

Gaming: Veteran game developer Liu Dan, formerly of Tencent Games and known for titles like QQ Pet and Asura, founded Chuangxiang Yuedong and partnered with Skyworth to release the "Youdoo Box." This AI-powered motion-sensing gaming console for families uses an RGB camera and local AI skeletal recognition to let up to four family members play dozens of games without needing a handheld controller. Wuxia-themed MMORPG Tianxia (天下) appointed actress Joey Wong as its brand ambassador, licensing her classic screen image from the A Chinese Ghost Story era to create an AI-generated virtual character for its marketing. Tencent also relaunched a 3D version of its classic virtual pet game, QQ Pet. This new version is integrated with the Tencent Hy3 large model, which gives the virtual penguin, dog, or "garlic goose" a selectable personality, enabling it to initiate conversations, generate a daily "pet diary," help the user maintain a conversation thread with friends, and even interact with a friend's pet.

AI-generated Content and Identity: A comprehensive analysis of the AI short drama industry highlights a crisis of "AI face" homogenization, where many low-quality productions use the same platform-provided default faces, triggering the uncanny valley effect and viewer fatigue. The article notes that many creators are now bypassing complex but legally-required real-face licensing workflows, leading to a demand for character designers and discussions on creating distinct "industry feature faces." To combat this, Douyin Group's short drama copyright center announced a campaign to regulate high-frequency, repetitive AI faces. The hit AI short drama The Laid-off Girl (被裁掉的女孩) successfully bypassed the uncanny valley by using a realistic story, a digital character with noticeable flaws like moles, and an out-of-drama social media campaign for its characters Fang Taozi and Zhou Yiheng. In the realm of celebrity IP, a growing number of stars are licensing their digital likenesses for AI content, with Hong Kong actor Lawrence Ng authorizing the use of a 20-year-old version of his face in an AI film and mainland streamer Chen Ze's call for user-generated content with his image attracting over 6 billion video views. Zhejiang province's Wenzhou city held a major "AI Liu Bowen" competition, awarding a top prize for a short film that used a digital human of the historical figure Liu Bowen to faithfully recreate his appearance.

Cultural Heritage and Public Culture: In a move to modernize preservation, digital human and virtual reality technologies are being promoted to help intangible cultural heritage (ICH) masters conduct cloud-based teaching and create digital repositories of Chinese heritage. The Tengwang Pavilion (滕王阁) tourist area in Nanchang launched an AI digital human of the historical poet Wang Bo to serve as an intelligent tour guide for visitors. In the gaming-like cultural sphere, Baidu Wenku (百度文库) and Baidu Netdisk have partnered with institutions to launch a "Yiyuan Mailbox" digital service, which uses an AI tool to let users upload photos of non-heritage cultural plaques and automatically create 3D models or digital humanized narrations of the figures.

Government and Public Affairs: The Public Security Bureau of Putian (莆田) city officially launched two digital human police officers named "Puxiaojing" (莆小警) and "Puxiaotian" (莆小田) on their official WeChat account. Available 24/7, these digital humans provide intelligent question-and-answer services for over 500 police administrative tasks, including ID card processing and traffic violation inquiries. In Guizhou province, the "Shuzhitong" platform is used to provide digital skills evaluation for the digital economy workforce, including roles like AI trainers. The Ningxia drug control education base uses a digital human tour guide to provide an immersive learning experience for teenagers. The policy research office of the Hunan provincial committee discussed the potential of digital human technology in public services. The city of Yangpu in Shanghai plans to bring together tech companies, universities, and platforms to develop core technologies such as virtual digital humans and multimodal large language models to build a smart live-streaming innovation hub.

Ethical Contexts: A Chinese commentary on AI voices warns of the growing societal difficulty in telling reality from fabrication as deepfake technology erodes the trustworthiness of audio, though it notes the technology also has potential benefits for powering digital human applications. A legal analysis discusses the case of actress Yu Shuxin, whose face and voice were allegedly used without permission in numerous AI-generated dramas, highlighting that this unauthorized commercial use constitutes an infringement of personal rights like肖像权 and sound rights under China's Civil Code. A broader discussion on AI in the media notes that virtual actors in AI short dramas must be clearly labeled as per the country's deep synthesis regulations to prevent misleading the public and to maintain the boundary between virtual and real-world social connections.

Enterprise: Shaanxi Changyu Aviation Equipment Co., Ltd. has deployed a "digital employee" multi-agent AI system for precision machining. In this system, six role-specific digital employees—including a supervisor, craftsman, and quality controller—hold a roundtable discussion to autonomously generate gear shaft manufacturing process plans and code in approximately 20 minutes. In the telecom sector, Shenzhen Topband Co., Ltd. has integrated AI large model technology to develop a "TV AI voice digital person" and an intelligent customer service function for its cable television service. A national report on smart highways and transportation mentions that several provinces, including Jilin and Jiangsu, are planning to apply digital human technology in highway service areas and toll stations for 24/7 intelligent guidance.

27 July News

Healthcare: At the 2026 Brain Health Conference in Shanghai, Nanwei Software Group (南威软件集团) and Beijing Tiantan Hospital jointly launched the "Tiantan Brain Health Information Platform and Intelligent Agents." The platform, accessible via the "Tiantan Brain Health" app, integrates a large model with multiple intelligent agents for health factors, nutrition, exercise, and sleep, providing AI-driven health management services. Nanwei Software Group is responsible for the platform's AI computing power, data governance, and the development of related digital human technologies to support the platform's functionality.

Cultural: On July 25, 2026, "Jingdezhen Handmade Porcelain Industry Relics" was inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List, and the official game "Digital Jingdezhen: Porcelain Capital Apprentice" (数字景德镇·瓷都小匠) was launched simultaneously. Co-developed by Jingdezhen authorities and Tencent, the game integrates AI digital human, AI 3D generation, and AI+PCG technologies, featuring an "AI Master" digital human that answers players' questions about the millennium-old porcelain history. In a separate project, digital human technology was used to reconstruct a 3D digital human of Lady Xin Zhui, the "Oriental Sleeping Beauty" from the Mawangdui Han Tomb, created by a research team including experts from the Hunan Museum and Changsha Digital Whale Technology Co., Ltd. (长沙数字鲸鱼科技有限公司). The full-body digital human, rendered as a 35-year-old woman, is part of a project to eventually create an interactive AI agent for real-time dialogue and artifact explanation.

Gaming: For its 18th anniversary, the NetEase game "Tianxia" (天下) appointed retired Hong Kong actress Wang Zuxian as its ambassador by licensing her peak-age (20-30 years old) portrait for AI commercial use. NetEase and Bytedance's Volcengine AI technology digitally recreated her iconic "Nie Xiaoqian" image for the AI short promotional film "Qianying" (倩影), and her digital avatar was also implanted as an in-game NPC. Separately, a report detailed how the rapid growth of AI short dramas, which made up over 95% of the market in Q1 2026, has severely impacted actors. A specific case highlighted is Xu Peng, a Central Academy of Drama graduate, who went from a fully booked schedule to having no work in a single month as all his projects were switched to AI digital humans, forcing him to return to his hometown in Shandong to sell vegetables at a market.

Marketing: In Shijiazhuang, the industrial manufacturing company Jingye Group (敬业集团) has deployed an AI digital human streamer named "Pipi" to power a 24/7 multi-platform livestreaming matrix for its online marketing department, creating a complete closed-loop marketing system. In Zhejiang Yiwu, 54-year-old businesswoman Zhang Jiying uses an AI-powered "digital twin" to sell umbrellas in over 30 languages through short videos. The digital human technology company WanYing Jiepai Digital Media Technology (Suzhou) Co., Ltd. (万影节拍数字传媒科技(苏州)有限公司) is also reported to provide services for creating enterprise-level digital human spokespersons and virtual idols for brands across China.

Ethical Contexts: A series of reports detail the controversial trend of "selling faces to AI" in the Chinese entertainment industry. The 93-year-old actor You Benchang (游本昌) licensed his classic "Ji Gong" image for an AI micro-short drama and a commercial for elderly care products, receiving widespread acclaim because he personally served as the artistic director, retaining script and final cut approval, and appeared as himself at the end of the AI-generated advertisement. In contrast, actress Wang Zuxian's (王祖贤) purely portrait-based AI commercial authorization was criticized for a perceived "loss of spirit" and "emptiness," attributed to her 22-year absence from acting and lack of creative control. Simultaneously, media exposed a gray market where short drama crews purchase the portrait rights of ordinary citizens and struggling actors for between 100 to 1,500 yuan for permanent or long-term use, creating an ethical and legal minefield around digital likenesses. AI digital humans are also being used in Chinese securities fraud, where criminals use deepfake technology to imitate well-known analysts in livestreams to deceive investors, as warned by multiple brokerages including Huaxin Securities (华鑫证券).

26 July News

Education: When the "Building Dreams with the Same Sound" practice team from Hunan Normal University carried out activities to promote Putonghua at Gaofeng School in Yongzhou City, they introduced AI digital human technology to combine the recitation and analysis of classical poems with intelligent voice interaction, making works such as "A Young Man's Journey" and "On the Love of Lotus" more tangible and relatable. Meanwhile, the "Literary Style and Red Language, Liangshui Sentiment" practice team from Changsha University used the self-developed AI virtual character "Chuanchuan" as a digital teaching assistant during their teaching support activities in Liangshui Village, Longshan County, Xiangxi. Through motion capture and voice interaction technology, they conducted scene-based teaching of red historical stories.

Entertainment: Hong Kong actress Joey Wong, retired from acting, licensed her screen image from her peak years (ages 20-30) to NetEase Games' "Tianxia" for the creation of an all-AI short film, "Qianying." The AI ​​version of Nie Xiaoqian will later appear as a digital NPC in the game, with the credits reading "Joey Wong (AI)." This has sparked widespread discussion about whether AI-created celebrity images possess a soul. Meanwhile, 62-year-old Lawrence Ng licensed his image rights from when he was 20 to an AI film production company for the lead role in a movie, expressing satisfaction with the payment and the AI's precise replication of his unconscious mannerisms. 93-year-old You Benchang not only authorized his image from when he played "Ji Gong" at age 52, as well as his current personal image, to AI for the short drama "Ji Gong: The Imposter Dragon Slayer" and the elderly care product advertisement "At 93, I Own My First Robot," but also personally served as the art director, overseeing script review and final product approval. His AI digital human has gained high recognition from the audience for its lifelike appearance and spirit. The short drama "Ji Gong: The Imposter Dragon Slayer" and the advertisement "At 93, I Own My First Robot" were completed through digital generation and high-precision digital avatar synthesis with real-scenes, respectively. Taiwan launched its first virtual idol music talent show, "VPOP ASIA," produced by HTC VIVE ORIGINALS. It brought together 15 virtual trainees to sing 126 classic Chinese songs, and the judges included several real musicians such as Hsiao Huang-chi and Dai Ailing. The AI-generated comic series "The Girl Who Was Cut Off" has accumulated over 200 million views on a single platform in less than a month since its release. After its digital human lead actors, Fang Taozi and Zhou Yiheng, became popular due to the series, the team opened independent social media accounts for them to continuously update their life content. Fang Taozi's personal account has exceeded 377,000 followers, making her one of the first AI traffic stars in the industry.

Gaming: NetEase's martial arts mobile game *Justice Online* features an AI-powered drama production mode, allowing players to upload live-action videos to perfectly replicate the actions of game characters and pets, creating short dramas. Currently, player-generated videos are approaching 20 million. This technology is based on intelligent 3D digital human technology developed in collaboration between NetEase and Zhejiang University. To celebrate the successful inscription of Jingdezhen's handmade porcelain industry on the UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage list, the Jingdezhen government, in partnership with Tencent, launched the mini-game *Digital Jingdezhen: Porcelain Capital Craftsmen*. The game integrates the AI ​​digital human "Ning Fenghuo," who interacts with players in real-time to educate them about porcelain culture. It also uses AI 3D generation technology to allow players to simulate the entire porcelain-making process on their mobile phones.

Marketing: Baidu's OneMirror partnered with Coca-Cola to launch a real-time interactive digital avatar of Fan Zhiyi during the 2026 World Cup. Using a "watching buddy" interactive logic, it facilitated conversations with fans, accumulating over 300,000 interactions with an average interaction time exceeding 2 minutes, generating over 1 billion impressions across the internet, achieving deep brand engagement without traditional advertising. Zhang Jiying, a 54-year-old business owner in Yiwu, Zhejiang, used AI tools to create her own "digital avatar," introducing new umbrella products to global customers in over 30 languages. According to Nanning News Network, a beauty and wellness shop owner in Liuzhou used an AI digital avatar for localized live streaming, increasing orders during the early morning hours from zero to nearly one-fifth by incorporating the Guilin-Liuzhou dialect and local contextual language. She also employed a GEO optimization strategy to prioritize her shop in AI Q&A sessions. In 2025, Aima Technology Group, in collaboration with Volcano Engine and Baidu Smart Cloud, created the AIGC unified portal "Ma Xiao Ai," integrating digital avatar sales capabilities. Xi'an Global Printing Co., Ltd.'s internet digital marketing business has already adopted digital virtual avatars for live streaming and promotion.

Enterprise: At the 2026 World Artificial Intelligence Conference, Digiwin Digital showcased its product "Athena Enterprise Intelligent Operation Space" (EIOSpace), which integrates three core intelligent agent roles: a commander responsible for overall scheduling and task breakdown, an expert intelligent agent providing professional judgment, and a digital avatar responsible for specific execution tasks. The aim is to build an efficient collaborative operational infrastructure for people, intelligent agents, and equipment within an enterprise. Han Mei, founder of Baixing Intelligent, demonstrated at WAIC how his AI system automatically generates a "digital avatar" for an enterprise. Based on this "enterprise entity," multiple intelligent agents are driven to collaboratively complete foreign trade tasks such as customer acquisition, outreach, and content generation. His product, OntoZ, has helped over 1,000 Chinese companies establishing customer connections in more than 160 countries. Shentong Express officially launched the express delivery industry's first intelligent agent platform, "SClaw," and clarified its strategic application direction for physical AI. Among its three core application scenarios, digital avatars for small couriers assisting in precise last-mile delivery is one of them. In its second-quarter operations, Lufax Holding launched the "Digital Doppelganger" program, developing 20 AI functions around frontline business development and customer management scenarios, and equipping each account manager with an AI assistant to improve efficiency and effectiveness.

Cultural: The AI ​​short film "Mom and Horse," produced by Wenzhou-based Huafang Afternoon Culture Media (Wenzhou) Co., Ltd., won the Gold Award at the 5th Seoul International AI Film Festival for its use of digital human character creation and AI-assisted editing technologies. Wenzhou's AI film and television industry has formed clusters such as the Longwan AI Film and Television Base, and has seen the emergence of companies like Yuanou Culture Media and Daxuan Culture Technology. The latter's realistic live-action short drama "Yipin Baozi Shop," created using an AI digital human pipeline, garnered over 40 million views online within three days of its release. Wenzhou Jintaiyang Selection Technology also helped the short drama platform OrikTv localize 50 short dramas in Kazakhstan by creating digital human faces that conform to Central Asian aesthetics. The 5th Radio, Television and Online Audiovisual Artificial Intelligence Application Innovation Competition (MediaAIAC), organized by the State Administration of Radio and Television, has set up a virtual digital human track, soliciting feasible audiovisual AI innovation projects nationwide. The 16th China International Animation Expo will feature a dedicated "Intelligent Animation Space Digital Fusion" exhibition area, showcasing cutting-edge achievements such as virtual digital humans. Douyin's subsidiary, Hongguo Short Drama, officially released the "Announcement on Regulating the Creation of AI Drama Characters," which establishes systematic regulations from two major aspects: character design and copyright compliance. It strictly prohibits the use of highly similar virtual images across dramas in order to address the problem of "high-frequency AI faces" and material infringement in AI short dramas.

Ethical Contexts: The police in Dazhou, Sichuan, detected multiple cases of using AI technology to infringe on citizens' personal information. After tricking elderly people in villages and towns to take videos of their faces, criminal gangs used AI tools to batch generate simulated dynamic face videos such as blinking, opening mouths, and turning heads, which were used to illegally register real-name registrations and sell IoT cards. Shen and others used this to sell more than 13,000 real-name IoT cards and illegally made tens of thousands of yuan. A cover news report reprinted by China Central Broadcasting Network exposed the criminal chain in which rural elderly people’s personal information was stolen under the lure of small gifts and used to generate dynamic faces with AI for illegal profit making. In the film and television industry, due to the explosion of AI short dramas and the sharp decrease in drama contracts with real actors, many low-level short drama actors have begun to be forced to license the right to use their personal portraits to AI producers at low prices to make a living. The price ranges from 150 yuan to 1,500 yuan. However, the contract terms are often vague and there is a risk of abuse of portrait rights, which has raised deep questions about the laws and industry ethics of the "face-selling" transaction.

25 July News

Cultural: Classic Chinese celebrities are increasingly turning to authorized AI digital replicas of their younger selves, reshaping the concept of an actor's lifecycle. Taiwanese actress Wang Zuxian, who retired 22 years ago, authorized her peak-age image for a fully AI-generated short film, *Qian Ying* (倩影), for NetEase's game *Tianxia* (天下). The AI version of her appears as a digital NPC inside the game, marking a first for in-game celebrity AI content in China, supported by NetEase’s DM Monet and Volcano Engine. Hong Kong actor Wu Qihua, 62, authorized his 20-year-old portrait to an AI film company, allowing his young digital self to star in a new film, while 93-year-old actor You Benchang, unable to handle rigorous filming, licensed his face and voice for an AI-produced micro-series about his iconic character, Ji Gong, retaining script and final product approval rights. In a related mainland case, the Shanghai Film Group’s AIGC short series, *Xin 51 Hao Bing Zhan* (新51号兵站), uses an AI-rejuvenated image of 89-year-old artist Liang Boluo, who authorized a single-use use of his likeness from the classic film, with the team confirming every creative step with him. This portfolio approach—selling one’s peak-era image, licensing only a specific 20-year-old self, or limiting use to a single role—contrasts sharply with active stars who resist such deals. Views are split, with some seeing AI performances as soulless while others raise concerns that such practices could freeze out younger actors.

Marketing: Baidu Yijing (百度一镜), the company's digital human platform, launched a major AI marketing campaign during the World Cup in collaboration with Coca-Cola, featuring real-time interactive digital humans. A digital clone of the famous Chinese football commentator and former player Fan Zhiyi, known for his outspoken personality, was deployed as a 24/7 “football-watching buddy,” attracting over 300,000 user interactions with a two-minute average engagement time and sub-second response latency, leading to over 1 billion total exposures and top 15 trending status on Weibo. JD.com’s digital human platform executed a separate "AI Viewing Party" sports marketing campaign by transforming major brand IPs like Lenovo Savior, Mengniu, and Hisense into interactive AI streamers, with one Lenovo-branded live stream seeing a 26-fold viewer surge and nearly 7-fold GMV increase. On the influencer side, Xingxu Film (星戌影业) signed a top digital influencer from the Jimeng AI ecosystem, marking a move toward professional management and commercialization of AI-born virtual idols. The Douyin short drama *Bei Cai Diao De Nv Hai* (被裁掉的女孩) adopted a "break-the-screen" approach, creating separate social media accounts for its AI leads to post daily life vlogs, fanning CP (couple pairing) fervor and generating over 200 million views and over a million new followers across accounts.

Gaming: Huya (虎牙) released its self-developed real-time multimodal digital human foundational model, VAM 1.0, at WAIC 2026. The model can generate a fully interactive digital human—capable of real-time speaking, listening, and non-verbal reactions like nodding—from a single static photo. Its capabilities have been deployed within Huya's platform for various use cases, including game item sales, tournament commentary, and serving as a co-streaming digital avatar for live game hosts. In another significant gaming application, COVER Corporation’s first official mobile game for its VTuber group Hololive, *Hololive Dreams*, launched globally. The game features the group’s virtual idols as playable interactive characters within a rhythm-RPG, and its launch success suggests that existing virtual being fan communities are a powerful game market force.

Government and Public Services: Public officials in China are beginning to use digital avatars for official duties. At a major server industry event in Dongguan, the city's Executive Vice Mayor, Zeng Jianpeng, delivered a speech using his “virtual digital avatar” to showcase the city’s commitment to AI. Similarly, during the APEC Digital Week in Chengdu, the public security bureau of Yinchuan demonstrated an “AI Digital Policeman,” a virtual IP designed for 24/7 online community outreach, providing real-time anti-fraud tips, traffic law queries, and public security information.

Healthcare and Public Welfare: TCL has deployed AI-powered virtual human concierges within its smart healing store solutions for SPA and wellness shops. The virtual beings serve as 24/7 “digital healers,” interpreting customer needs from conversational cues like “I’ve had lower back pain” to recommend treatments, while also controlling room ambiance for an immersive experience. In a separate public welfare initiative in Foping County, Shaanxi Province, Alibaba and the county government have rolled out an "AI Foping+" system, deploying AI all-in-one machines in villages that feature a digital human capable of understanding the local dialect, providing 24/7 guidance on everything from agricultural techniques to social security policies for rural residents.

Cultural Heritage: The penetration of virtual beings into cultural heritage and tourism continues. At the Kaoting Academy in Jianyang District, Nanping, an AI digital human replica of the ancient philosopher Zhu Xi engages in real-time voice-based Q&A with visitors, bringing the 12th-century Neo-Confucian to life. In Chengdu, the Wuhou Temple’s digital human "Xiao Zhuge" (小诸葛) is among the 11 projects identified as national metaverse use cases. Dongguan’s server industry event was opened by a speech delivered by the mayor’s digital avatar, while a broader cultural initiative in the Greater Zhangjiajie International Tourism Area includes plans to cultivate new business formats like digital human tours for mountain and cultural sites.

Enterprise: Several Chinese companies are productizing digital humans for business efficiency and internal roles. Shen Tong Express (申通快递) has integrated a "digital avatar" capable of assisting with precision delivery confirmation, as part of a broader AI agent push. Dianjie (鼎捷软件) launched its "EIOSpace," an AI-native enterprise infrastructure that uses a “digital avatar” as one of three core AI agent types to extend a user’s intent and complete work tasks within a collaborative agent ecosystem. The financial services firm Lufax (陆控) has also initiated a "digital avatar" plan to help its customer managers break through productivity bottlenecks by automating client outreach and guidance. Furthermore, Baixing Intelligence (百型智能), a startup founded by a former Alipay and Hellobike executive, is providing AI-powered "digital avatars" for Chinese export enterprises, which can understand a company’s full product line and automatically engage in customer discovery, marketing, and follow-up.

Media and Content Production: CCTV.com (央视网) has established a "Digital Human Factory" project and co-founded the "Yangtze River Delta AI Digital Human Industry Alliance," focusing on developing virtual presenters for different beats like news and reading. The provincial media group of Shandong announced its “Haiying Digital Human Platform” (海映数字人平台) as a key component of its AI strategy built on its self-developed Hai Dai large model. China Telecom’s Guomai Culture (国脉文化) officially launched enterprise virtual spokespersons, "Ailin" and "Xiao Lin," based on real employees like their general manager, to serve as the company’s unified cultural and business image. In other media applications, Hebei’s Wuxian Media (无线传媒) is developing an AI-powered digital human interaction system for IPTV set-top boxes and smart screens.

Financial and Retail Services: Beijing Bank and ICBC branches in Beijing’s Mentougou district have introduced AI digital human consultants at their medical insurance service counters, offering a diverse range of services and receiving positive feedback from the public. The Chinese baijiu brand Tianyoude (天佑德酒) has deployed a digital virtual character named "Li Ling'er" (李灵儿) to help modernize its marketing and connect its traditional brand with digital culture.

Platform and Creator Economy: The competitive landscape for AI interactive content is intensifying. Following Douyin's beta of an "AI Interactive Space," its rival platform Kuaishou is launching an equivalent feature, recruiting creators to build interactive stories, AI character conversations, and lightweight interactive applications using large models. The Douyin account for the AI short drama character “Fang Taozi” built a following of over 330,000 by posting independent daily life content beyond the storyline, a model Kuaishou’s new program could replicate. The AI-powered short drama *Bei Cai Diao De Nv Hai* exemplifies this trend, with its virtual characters gaining individual social media accounts managed as if they were real influencers.

Consumer Technology: Zhejiang Library and Ant Group collaborated on a "Wenlan Chongguang" project where visitors wear MR glasses to see a digital human "Ji Xiaolan" (纪晓岚) and converse with him across time and space. At the 16th China International Animation Copyright Fair, a new "Smart Animation Space Digital Integration" zone will display virtual digital human technology alongside AI-generated animation characters and VR interactions. TCL’s AI virtual being can also be found in hotel rooms acting as a butler, able to set deep-sleep environments via voice command.

Ethical Contexts: National regulations introduced on July 15, the *Administrative Measures on Artificial Intelligence Anthropomorphic Interaction Services*, have come into effect alongside Douyin’s tightened policies on digital human operations. The new rules require clear AI-generated content labeling, real-name registration of digital human operating entities, and, critically, that account owners use a valid *Trademark Registration Certificate* rather than a mere acceptance notice, creating a compliance rush that some platforms are solving via trademark transfer services. The broader issue of AI replacing junior actors is creating a shadow market where production companies purchase the face usage rights of struggling actors and ordinary people for as little as 100 yuan per year, with middlemen citing poor contracts and weak legal protections. While celebrities like Wu Qihua command significant fees for time-limited and purpose-restricted licenses, the phenomenon is driving a wedge into the opportunities available for new actors and the security of their biometric data.

24 July News

Gaming and Entertainment: Wang Zuxian (王祖賢), the Hong Kong actress who retired 22 years ago, authorized the AI use of her likeness from her peak period, aged 20 to 30, for NetEase's (网易) PC game "Tianxia" (天下) to mark its 18th anniversary. This collaboration, executed under China's newly effective "Interim Measures for the Administration of AI Anthropomorphic Interactive Services," is considered the first complete commercial sample of a star's AI authorization in the domestic gaming industry. NetEase's in-house DM Monet canvas and ByteDance's Volcano Engine (火山引擎) Seedance 2.0 were used to create a fully AI-generated promotional short film, "Qianying" (倩影), and digital NPCs within the game, featuring classic personas like Nie Xiaoqian (聶小倩). The agreement strictly limits the use of her digital image to this single project, setting a precedent for the compliant commercial use of AI-generated celebrity likenesses. Separately, Taiwanese technology company HTC, through its XR content team VIVE ORIGINALS, launched a large-scale Asian virtual idol audition show called "VPOP ASIA" on July 18, which features 15 virtual trainees performing alongside human performers using motion capture, with special guest appearances from Japanese VTuber Kson.

Marketing and E-commerce: Several Chinese companies are deploying digital humans for marketing and sales. The Chinese e-commerce service provider Baibei (倍市得) has launched a "TwinSouls" digital human sample solution, allowing brands in home furnishings, FMCG, and digital products to use AI digital humans for early-stage screening of new product concepts, advertising creative, and packaging visuals. In the automotive sector, the platform "Youjia" (有驾) features multiple AI digital human avatars for car consultation, including creators like "Li Yuer Liaoche AI Avatar" (李玉儿聊车_AI分身), "Fatty Car God Nuannuan AI Avatar" (胖子车神暖暖_AI分身), and "Xiaoxiong Shuo Che AI Avatar" (小雄说车_AI分身), which assist users with vehicle operation questions. Aigostar (爱玛科技), a major electric two-wheeler manufacturer, integrated a digital human sales feature into its "AI Xiao Ma" (玛小爱) intelligent agent platform, built in collaboration with Volcano Engine and Baidu AI Cloud, to enhance its smart ecosystem. E-commerce platform Shengyibao (生意宝) operates the Wangsheng Building AI Digital Human Live Base, offering a SaaS tool for creating hyper-realistic digital humans for live-streaming sales on platforms like Douyin, Kuaishou, and Taobao. The fashion company Ellassay (歌力思) has utilized its virtual character ELISA for social media marketing to connect with Generation Z.

Enterprise and Business Services: Baidu launched its upgraded full-scenario digital human platform, "Baidu Yijing" (百度一镜), which integrates digital humans with agent capabilities for video podcast solutions. Its micro-expression technology can coordinate hundreds of units, enabling realistic, real-time emotional expressions for scenarios like dual-anchor discussion podcasts, reportedly reducing video production costs by 74% and increasing efficiency by 785%. Lingzhi Software (凌志软件), a company serving over 90 domestic securities firms, is deploying AI agents as "digital avatars" for wealth management, institutional services, and investment banking to automate tasks like account analysis, content creation, and IPO prospectus pre-review. In the steel trading industry, Zhaogang (找钢网) has equipped its traders with AI digital counterparts to work alongside humans, significantly boosting efficiency. The GEO service provider Guaishou Intelligent GEO (怪兽智能GEO), evaluated in an industry report, utilizes AI digital humans as its core tool for content production and marketing. Additionally, the finance-focused digital human product "Gu'ao Finance - Finance Digital Human" (古鳌财经-金融数字人) from Gu'ao Technology (古鳌科技) serves the financial information sector.

AI Short Dramas and Media: The AI-generated short drama "The Girl Who Was Fired" (被裁掉的女孩) has popularized virtual actors Fang Taozi (方桃子) and Zhou Yiheng (周以衡), who have become commercial entities by securing brand endorsements and interacting with fans on standalone social media accounts, with Fang Taozi alone amassing over 330,000 followers. The digital human platform "Digital Nuwa" (数字女娲) has deployed over 400 AI actors for commercial use, creating a complete ecosystem from content creation to monetization. The platform "Liancheng AI" (联橙AI), developed by Liantou Media in Hubei, offers a multimodal AIGC creation toolkit that includes digital human broadcasting for video production. Quwan Technology (趣丸科技) showcased its one-stop digital human solution at the 2026 World Artificial Intelligence Conference (WAIC), which can generate high-fidelity digital human avatars from a single photo, reducing customization costs from tens of thousands to just hundreds of yuan. The state broadcaster's regulatory body, the National Radio and Television Administration, has included "Virtual Digital Humans" as a dedicated track in its 5th MediaAIAC innovation competition, encouraging applications in hosting, customer service, and virtual performance. Chinese online literature IP has also been adapted into AI long-form dramas, such as the 8-episode series "Yue Xia Zhi Chen" (月下之臣) created by an all-female team, and the nationalistic "Red Blood on Dachen Island" (热血大陈岛), marking the industry's move into longer, narrative-driven AI film content.

Cultural Heritage and Tourism: Virtual beings are increasingly used to enhance tourism experiences. At the Hongcun World Heritage site in Anhui, an AR digital human tour guide named "Huiyin" (徽音) has been deployed alongside a new immersive VR experience called "Hongcun Treasure" to bring local Hui culture to life. In a similar application of digital twins for cultural preservation, the Xi'an-based team "Keshikejue" (可视可觉) completed a millimeter-level 3D digital twin of a Terracotta Warrior, which can be deployed in museums, educational platforms, and even licensed to games like "The Legend of Qin" for high-precision NPC creation. The Shenzhen-listed company Fengshang Culture (锋尚文化) is actively involved in virtual digital human development and operations, creating virtual artists and performances for metaverse applications. At a broader level, China's red tourism sites are widely adopting AI digital human guides and AR recognition displays to create immersive, interactive exhibits, making historical content more engaging for younger audiences. The construction and operation of virtual digital humans in these contexts is supported by national guidelines and specialized tracks in competitions like the MediaAIAC.

Healthcare and Public Services: In the medical field, Hangzhou Deepwise Intelligent Medical Technology (杭州深睿智能医疗科技) is developing AI that initially helped doctors identify lesions and is now evolving to provide full diagnostic and treatment process support, moving AI from a simple diagnostic aid to a comprehensive digital medical assistant. The company WiseDiagnosis (智诊科技) operates the WiseDiag multi-modal medical large model and its C-end application, "HaoBan AI" (好伴AI), which has created over 2,000 digital avatars of top specialists from tertiary hospitals, offering personal health management services to over a million registered users. Bethune (博斯腾科技), a company focusing on elderly care and cognitive health, presented an intelligent cognitive impairment screening device at WAIC. Furthermore, the iFlytek (科大讯飞) project "Key Technologies and Industrialization of Cross-modal Collaborative Digital Human Interaction" won first prize for scientific and technological progress in Anhui Province; its platform has launched over 100,000 digital avatars, with applications spanning education, healthcare, and finance. A digital human was also used to present news in a diplomatic press briefing video by the media outlet NetEase, highlighting its use in broadcasting.

Hardware and Companionship: The humanoid robot and AI companionship sector is seeing the integration of digital personality systems with physical hardware. The Hong Kong-listed company Dayang Group (大洋集团) has pivoted to a "silicon-based biomimetic manufacturing" strategy, creating a full-stack solution for humanoid robots that includes biomimetic skin, flexible muscles, lightweight skeletons, and customizable AI personality systems, with products like the AI companion robot LaChat and the humanoid emotional companion Ness.AI. Fibocom (广和通) launched its MagiCore AI Companion Solution with upgraded IP Agent capabilities, designed to give AI-powered toys a stable "character" with structured worldviews, layered memory, and proactive interaction, enabling IP holders to turn static characters into long-term operational digital assets. Hangzhou-based Genmiao Technology (杭州智诊科技) developed the WiseDiag model, which has been used to create over 2000 digital doctor avatars for public health. The pet care platform Wangmiaolingling (汪喵灵灵) uses its pet large model to create digital avatars of pets for health management and other interactive scenarios.

General Enterprise Digital Avatars: Many companies are creating "digital avatars" for corporate functions. The term is used by Alibaba's DingTalk to describe a "boss AI avatar" for improved business operations. Baixing Zhineng (百型智能), an AI startup, builds an "enterprise ontology" or digital avatar for foreign trade companies, unifying fragmented product, market, and sales knowledge into a single AI brain to automate client discovery and engagement. In education, a Fudan University professor used his own digital avatar to co-author a diagnosis on the future of higher education. The AI AIGC platform "Liancheng AI," developed by Liantou Media in Hubei, integrates digital human broadcasting as one of its core capabilities for corporate communications.

23 July News

Entertainment: In the entertainment and gaming sector, multiple high-profile cases of AI digital doubles and virtual actors emerged. Wang Zuxian (王祖贤), who retired from acting 22 years ago, officially authorized her peak-era AI portrait to NetEase's (网易) game Tianxia (天下) for its 18th-anniversary campaign, marking a landmark case of a Hong Kong star's complete, compliant AI facial commercial authorization. The AI-generated short film Qianying (倩影), which replicated her classic roles and was supported by NetEase Interactive Entertainment's DM Monet canvas and Volcano Engine, features "Actor: Wang Zuxian (AI)" in its credits. Her digital image was also embedded into the game as a digital NPC and an exclusive in-game costume. Similarly, actor Wu Qihua (吴启华) licensed his 20-year-old portrait to an AI film production company for a leading role, and elderly actor You Benchang (游本昌) authorized his portrait and voice for an AI micro-drama, Jigong zhi Maopai Xianglong (济公之冒牌降龙), with contractual limits on the AI image's use to a single positive derivative work, retaining his right to review the script and final film. The AI short drama Beicaidiao de Nühai (被裁掉的女孩) saw its virtual protagonists, Fang Taozi (方桃子) and Zhou Yiheng (周以衡), become a cultural phenomenon with over 200 million views on a single platform. Their operators adopted a "screen-breaking" marketing strategy by creating independent social media accounts for these AI characters, where daily life vlogs, fitness posts, and cooking content are shared, with Fang Taozi's account gaining 334,000 followers and over 25.93 million likes in a month. This approach seeks to build "companionable virtual idols" that exist beyond their narrative context.

Short Drama and AI-Generated Content: The landscape of AI-generated content, particularly micro-short dramas, is undergoing rapid expansion and growing pains. Data from the China Netcasting Services Association shows that in the first quarter of 2026, AI micro-short dramas accounted for over 95% of all newly released industry titles, numbering approximately 122,000. This surge has led to widespread audience fatigue with generic "AI faces," often described as having identical round eyes, high noses, and sharp chins, triggering an "uncanny valley" effect where viewers experience discomfort and disconnection due to rigid expressions and a lack of "living human energy." In response, Douyin (抖音) has tightened content standards for these AI dramas, raising the entry threshold for creators. Douyin Group's short drama copyright center announced that starting August 3, 2026, four major genres—urban romance, growth stories, family warmth, and urban counterattack narratives—will be subject to enhanced production and review standards. A separate initiative from Douyin's short drama copyright center launched a support plan for dramas that mix real actors with AI production, requiring a minimum of 100 minutes of physical runtime, with at least 20% real-person footage and 5% AI-generated content. Productions can receive a guaranteed minimum payment and a monthly bonus of up to 300,000 yuan based on a performance-based revenue-sharing model, if they premiere between July 1 and September 30, 2026. The first domestically produced, fully AI-generated feature-length online film to receive an official distribution license, Rexue Dachendao (热血大陈岛), is scheduled for release in early August, while another full-AI drama, Yuexia zhi Chen (月下之臣), explores the commercial female-oriented genre.

Virtual Beings in Enterprise, Services, and Industry: Virtual beings are being increasingly deployed across various Chinese industries. At the World Artificial Intelligence Conference (WAIC) 2026, the industrial internet platform COSMOPlat, by Kaos, showcased an "industrial AI agent cluster," including specialized digital humans: a CEO digital human (数字人) for data governance and real-time strategic decision-making, a factory director digital human for scheduling flexible production and quality control, and an energy station chief digital human for autonomous energy efficiency optimization. In the logistics sector, STO Express (申通快递) debuted its SClaw agent platform, the express delivery industry's first, and specified a "digital avatar for couriers" as a key application scenario that allows the system to monitor individual courier delivery statuses and customer needs in real-time to assist with precise delivery. In advertising and marketing, the Smart Reading Network (智阅网络), based in Beijing’s Chaoyang District, is an AI-driven marketing service provider that deploys digital humans and AIGC technology to build customized omnichannel marketing solutions, integrating platforms, media, and internet celebrities. In Wenzhou's footwear industry, Hongqingting's (红蜻蜓) Huilima (惠利玛) industrial internet platform has developed and deployed an AI digital human livestreaming system that has served over 200 enterprises and generated approximately 80 million yuan in sales.

Gaming and Interactive Entertainment: Significant developments point to a convergence of gaming, AI, and interactive narrative content. Tencent (腾讯) is reportedly testing an AI interactive story product and exploring a community for AI-generated imagery and interactive narratives, while Youku (优酷) launched the "Yishan" interactive movie-game creation plan with a maximum single-project incentive of one million yuan in cash. The first artificially intelligent World Cup, facilitated by Lenovo (联想) as FIFA's first-ever official technology partner, heavily featured 3D avatar technology. Lenovo created millimeter-accurate 3D digital humans for all 1,248 participating players; when an offside incident occurred, these 3D avatars could generate an animation to be displayed on the big screen within three seconds, giving the global audience the same perspective as the Video Assistant Referee (VAR) for the first time. This 3D visualization technology was a core component of the "human history's first AI World Cup" experience.

Cultural and Ethical Contexts: The rapid proliferation of virtual beings has triggered broad cultural and ethical discussions. The trend of "virtual 'pseudo-experts'" flooding short video platforms—where unqualified AI-generated figures pose as doctors, lawyers, or scholars to output misleading content—has been cited as a systemic risk that erodes social trust and market order, prompting calls for a full-chain governance system including content provenance, platform audits, and legal accountability. Nanjing-based digital human company Badaindian (八点八数字), after pivoting from its virtual idol IP "Jiu Li" (九黎) due to high costs, has raised nearly 100 million yuan to develop its AI film and television workflow platform AniShort, which has quickly gained over 10,000 enterprise team users and is approaching profitability with a monthly subscription revenue nearing 10 million yuan, viewing itself as a "digital short drama version of Feishu" by integrating collaborative tools. A significant legal precedent was set as the first patent invalidation case in the virtual digital human field in China was concluded, with the China National Intellectual Property Administration upholding the validity of a patent for an AI image processing method that can generate a personalized digital human likeness from a user's audio. Finally, a work titled Virtual Idols, AI Digital Humans, and Cyber Life (虚拟偶像、AI数字人与赛博生命) was published, proposing an original concept of the "backstage illusion" to analyze the fan economy of virtual streamers driven by "soul-bearers" (中之人) and the paradox where fans both depend on and reject the personhood of the performer.

22 July News

Entertainment and Gaming: Hong Kong actress Joey Wong (Wang Zuxian) authorized her AI portrait rights from her peak years, aged 20 to 30, in a landmark case for a Hong Kong star, for use by Chinese NetEase (网易) in its Tianxia mobile game. This involved creating a fully AI-generated advertisement short film titled “Qian Ying” and making her AI image a digital NPC within the game, sparking polarized public reactions about the use of her likeness. Separately, NetEase’s Tianxia also featured the 3D virtual singer Luo Tianyi and AI influencers in its 18th-anniversary events. In the realm of AI-generated content and virtual idols, a Taiwanese virtual idol reality talent show "VPOP ASIA" premiered, hosted by Lulu Huang Luziyin and featuring 15 virtual contestants with 3D virtual technology. The show's host prepared by conducting psychological coaching sessions with each performer. Furthermore, a Chinese startup's "Quannü" team created three AI male leads for a project, noted for high-fidelity AI model detailing and vivid micro-expressions. Finally, the game industry showcased projects like "觉醒 AI" (Awakening AI) which uses AI to allow players to create card mechanics, and a development philosophy that absolute freedom from AI leads to an unplayable experience, requiring designers to frame AI’s boundaries.

Marketing and Advertising: Chinese iFlytek (科大讯飞) launched the "Spark Marketing Assistant" (星火营销助理), an AI marketing digital employee using a "1 real agent + 5 AI avatars" model where AI avatars' voice and communication style are kept consistent with the real agent, achieving a 36% increase in average daily effective communication time in pilots. On a separate note, Coca-Cola partnered with Baidu Yijing (百度一镜) to create an AI-powered interactive digital human of the football celebrity Fan Zhiyi for a World Cup marketing campaign. Additionally, the AI matchmaking mini-program "Liangpei AI" (良配AI), founded by a former Kimi AI search technical lead, incorporates an "AI avatar" feature to help users understand needs and screen matches.

Enterprise and Industrial Applications: At the 2026 WAIC, COSMOPlat (卡奥斯), a Haier subsidiary, globally premiered its Industrial AI Agent cluster, which includes three major digital human agents: COSMO-Sphere for CEO strategic decisions, COSMO-iMOM for factory director production scheduling, and COSMO-iEMS for energy station manager efficiency optimization. In the automotive finance sector, Yixin (易鑫), an AI-driven fintech platform, launched China's first automotive finance AI all-in-one machine, which uses a full-process AI digital human to guide users through services like pre-approval, information collection, and contract signing, slashing a 90-minute process down to 15-20 minutes. In a different sector, iFlytek launched the "Spark Enterprise Risk Control Officer" product, and Tencent Cloud's ADP 4.0 platform helpedZhaogang (找钢网) deploy over ten digital employees capable of handling orders, logistics, and queries, with some being packaged for subscription-based output to other steel trading firms. An in-depth report on end-to-end AI delivery 2.0 described "AI Native" digital avatars on DingTalk that enable non-R&D personnel to trigger automated full-cycle software delivery. These avatars operate on a cloud-based architecture with agents for product, coding, testing, and security review.

Cultural and Ethical Contexts: Shanghai Museum partnered with BesTV (百视通) to launch an AI short drama series and simultaneously deployed an offline digital human holographic interactive cabin where visitors can interact and take photos with a digital human. In Qingpu District, the local women's federation introduced digital humans named "Qing Ying Jie" and "Pu Nan Nan" to promote red family tradition courses. In Tibet's Maizhokunggar County, a tourism festival featured an AI digital human holographic image for stage hosting for the first time, alongside nine intelligent robots performing Tibetan dances in traditional attire. In the news, CCTV's virtual character "Xiao 8" was noted as being created by a subsidiary of China Television Media (中视传媒). Culturally, an AI digital human of the poet Li Bai was used in an exhibition to interact in classical Chinese, and a separate project by Tencent and a Chinese university created an AI educational game allowing users to converse with a digital Confucius. An ethics-focused report highlighted that Shanghai-based social platform Soul App formed an AI Ethics and Governance Committee, designing "imperfect virtual beings" that avoid perfectly fluid, empathetic conversation to prevent user over-dependence, and labeling all AI dialogues as “virtual partner.” They explicitly rejected designing virtual companions that induce emotional dependency. Finally, a project by HIT Tianyu Robot Group launched a "health digital twin" as part of a smart health management ecosystem in Harbin.

Healthcare: Within the context of the "AI + Traditional Chinese Medicine Common Technology Service Platform" established in Beijing's Chaoyang District, one of the services offered is the customization of renowned doctors' digital avatars. Separately, the firm Wanda Information (万达信息) developed a "Communicable Disease Public Health Digital Human" for intelligent Q&A and automated report generation in disease control scenarios.

Legislative and Regulatory Contexts: China’s "Artificial Intelligence Anthropomorphic Interaction Service Management Interim Measures" officially took effect on July 15, 2026. This regulation explicitly mandates that anthropomorphic AI services must not excessively cater to users, induce emotional dependency or addiction, or harm real interpersonal relationships; it also specifically prohibits providing virtual kinship or virtual partner services to minors. In response, platforms like ByteDance’s Doubao announced they would take their anthropomorphic intelligent agent features offline, and Alibaba’s Tongyi Qianwen also announced the offline of its user-created anthropomorphic intelligent agents.

Technology and Platforms: At WAIC 2026, Tencent's "Hey, my AI Buddy" theme showcased the personal AI assistant "Marvis," which pre-installs six AI Agents for controlling phones and PCs, alongside the AI app generation platform "Toast." Baidu’s "Yijing" (百度一镜) digital human agent debuted a dual-digital-human talk show video podcast solution, reducing production costs by 74% and increasing average watch time by 29%. In the finance sector, the fintech company Nuwatech (邦彦技术) launched its "NuwaAI" platform, offering digital human services like an AI "Li Bai" for live scenic spot interactions. Also, iFlytek’s AI blackboard in education uses "hundred-scene virtual humans" like Confucius and Einstein for classroom teaching. A significant development by Tsinghua University and Shengshu Technology is the "Vidu S1" model, which generates real-time, controllable AI virtual human videos from a single photo and voice commands on consumer GPUs, without degradation over time. Another study showcased at the event involved the "AgentLand" lab's development of AI social games with virtual character interactions.

World Cup and Sports: At the 2026 FIFA World Cup, Chinese tech giant Lenovo, as an official FIFA technology partner, was deeply involved. Its "3D Digital Human Visualization Solution" was used to create 3D digital avatars for 1,263 players by deploying 28 scanning pods at team hotels. This system was a landmark technology used in every match to assist referees with offside calls, rendering millimeter-level precision and was described by FIFA as a major breakthrough in decision transparency. A separate but related Lenovo promo event in Hangzhou featured a "Lexiang Yihao" intelligent robot interacting with crowds and presenting awards.

21 July News

Education: At the 2026 World Artificial Intelligence Conference (WAIC), the AI-native edtech company Yuaizhiwu debuted its "Aixue AI Learning Lab," showcasing a suite of digital human and virtual being technologies integrated into personalized learning. A key feature was its "Zhuyin" platform, which allows educators to create a dedicated AI teaching agent by describing teaching intentions and cloning their own image and voice, generating a proprietary digital human tutor in minutes. This platform, along with AI learning agents that use Socratic dialogue to guide students, is built on a self-developed digital human technology that was recognized in an ACM Multimedia 2026 research paper for its 3DGS-based avatar creation. Separately, Hangzhou Dianzi University's narrative expression studio developed a system where master teachers like Cheng Zhenwei and Deng Haijian are cloned into "AI Teacher" digital avatars. These digital clones provide students with on-demand, personalized guidance on topics from videography to career planning, supplementing the real-world mentorship of the physical teacher. At the hardware level, iFlytek showcased its GuideX digital human and the "Xunfei Tongchuang AI Blackboard," which features an AI Panoramic Virtual Human designed to enhance interactive teaching in classrooms. Beyond K-12, the "Liangcai University Talents Precision Training Platform" uses AI to cover a full chain of talent evaluation, including AI interviewing and assessment, pointing toward the use of virtual beings in professional development and hiring.

Entertainment: At WAIC 2026, Huya made waves by launching its real-time multimodal digital human, VAM 1.0, a virtual being model that generates an interactive avatar from a single photo. These avatars can sing, dance, and change outfits without a black screen in real-time, natively support voice-and-gesture-driven interactive games like werewolf, and serve as 24/7 digital co-hosts for human streamers, handling shopping promotions and audience engagement. In a separate entertainment crossover, The Coca-Cola Company introduced an AI-powered, hyper-realistic interactive digital human of former Chinese national football captain Fan Zhiyi for the 2026 FIFA World Cup marketing campaign in China. This AI Fan Zhiyi, developed with dialect-level voice cloning and real-time multimodal interaction, served as a "watch buddy" for fans, providing 24/7 companionship, match analysis, and casual conversation, effectively moving sports marketing from post-match content to real-time engagement. The trend of "face-selling" is also reshaping China's short-drama industry, where real actors are licensing their faces to star in AI-generated shows. Actors like Chen Dan have transitioned to helping fellow performers create digital clones for project-based roles, earning fees starting at 500 yuan, while the culture has expanded to include virtual idols and DIY virtual YouTuber avatars integrated into mobile apps and hardware like the Dipal D1 desktop AI pod.

Gaming: NetEase's long-running MMORPG, "Tianxia" (天下), licensed the AI portrait of retired actress Joey Wong to create a promotional AI short film, reviving her iconic characters like Nie Xiaoqian. This was officially credited to "Wang Zuxian (AI)," marking a significant commercial use of a celebrity's digital double in gaming. MiHoYo's new Steam project, "BSide: Olivia Lin," is a desktop application featuring a fully 3D-rendered virtual pianist named Lin Li who plays MIDI files uploaded by users and interacts through a letter-writing system, with advanced whole-body performance animations. This project, developed by a subsidiary capitalized at 150 million yuan, represents MiHoYo's exploration of advanced virtual being technology, building on its history with the virtual idol "yoyo Luming" and its deep investments in AI. Huya's VAM 1.0 also targets the gaming sector, powering virtual streamer-generated content and 24/7 in-game item sales, with plans to extend the "play with AI" experience from its platform to the broader gaming ecosystem.

Marketing and Commerce: The use of virtual beings in commerce is accelerating. At WAIC, the AI financial technology platform Yixin launched what it calls China's first automotive finance AI all-in-one kiosk, where a smart digital human guides customers face-to-face through the entire car loan application, contract signing, and repayment process, compressing a 90-minute task into 15-20 minutes. In the B2B sector, Baixing Intelligence introduced OntoZ, an AI Foreign Trade Ontology that creates an "enterprise digital twin" by consolidating a company's product and market knowledge. This digital twin drives multiple AI agents to autonomously handle lead discovery, marketing, and sales follow-ups, acting as a unified digital workforce for global trade. On the brand side, Laihua (LAiPIC) presented its Xiaohua Vinabot platform for creating visual AI agents that can act as brand representatives on various interactive terminals, from AI photo frames to holographic cabins. Its AI video platform Doratoon is used to generate animated videos featuring digital humans for marketing and e-commerce. Notably, e-commerce tool Virbo AI supports the creation of true-to-life digital salespeople by recording a real person's image and voice, which can then be used to generate bulk video content.

Enterprise and Productivity: Within enterprise applications, virtual humans are moving beyond simple assistants to become integral parts of digital management systems. Coocaa's Happy Work AIOS features a "four-mirror silicon-based system" that includes personal avatars and position-specific digital twins. The system strictly separates an employee's personal knowledge clone from their job-specific clone, ensuring that when an employee leaves, their personal cognitive assets are automatically separated from the company's business data, which stays in its enterprise-grade digital replica. Inspur's Haiyue Mano enterprise intelligent execution system deploys "digital employee" teams by creating a standardized digital twin for every role, enabling one person with one AI assistant and one digital twin per position for cross-departmental collaboration. The AI-native enterprise service provider Zhongguancun Kejin is implementing digital human agents in customer service roles that can seamlessly transfer to a human without the customer noticing, with voice cloning technology allowing one human agent to manage five to ten digital human agents. ShenTong Express launched the "SClaw" agent platform, which includes a "small piece worker digital twin" to improve last-mile delivery through digital mapping of the physical delivery process.

Cultural and Tourism: In the cultural tourism sector, digital humans are being deployed to revive historical narratives. Taian Cultural Tourism Group and iFlytek launched the "Taishan Companion" AI tour guide at WAIC, a WeChat mini-program that features over 40 historical and cultural digital human IPs from Mount Tai, such as Confucius and Li Bai, who can engage visitors in cross-generational dialogue. It also allows users to take photos of ancient stone inscriptions for an instant, AI-generated explanation. At the Mulberry and Bamboo Gongka Cultural Tourism Festival in Tibet, AI digital humans were used in a holographic display for the first time on a county-level stage, with nine robots dressed in traditional Tibetan clothing performing a coordinated dance. The technology firm Bangyan Technology (邦彦技术) conducted a New Year's Day event at Shenzhen's Gankeng Hakka Town, where its AI digital human "Li Bai" interacted with the public on a giant screen, reciting poetry, singing rock songs, and driving offline consumer engagement through gamified rewards. In the cultural preservation sphere, the "Chaozhou Laoxianghuang" (aged tangerine) industry proposed creating a virtual digital human to serve as a multilingual brand ambassador on global platforms like TikTok and YouTube, telling the story of its intangible cultural heritage.

Healthcare: Virtual beings are being deployed with a specific focus on patient care and medical accessibility. Alibaba's health-focused AI agent, "Afu," has empowered over 2,000 doctors to create "Doctor AI Avatars," and the platform, which has over 100 million users, also features a "Doctor Checking" function for AI-generated responses. The Longgang District Fourth People's Hospital in Shenzhen rolled out an inpatient ward AI digital human system, a bedside interactive terminal that acts as a 24/7 virtual health and lifestyle consultant, answering patient questions about procedures and departmental information via voice to free up nursing staff. At the community level, AI is used in elderly and psychological care, with the "Nazha Tongxue" AI psychological robot in Jiangsu providing mental health assessments through a 3D digital human interface, and the "Xiao Li" companion robot in Beijing being treated by elderly users as a new family member. In the industrial realm, Harbin Tiangyu Robot Group introduced a "healthy digital twin" product and AI health cabin network as part of its digitalized full-chain health management system.

Ethical and Legal Contexts: The rapid rise of digital clones has generated intense ethical debate and new legal frameworks. A significant example is an interview where short-drama actor He Linxiao expressed concern that her AI digital twin's acting might surpass her own, as the technology can analyze vast databases to replicate complex micro-expressions with superhuman speed and precision. Legally, lawyer Wang Rengen warned actors about the risks of "selling their faces" for digital cloning, citing that under China's Personal Information Protection Law, facial data is sensitive biometric information requiring explicit consent, and that actors often have no oversight of how their clones are used in a film's plot or dialogue. New regulations have defined these boundaries: the "Administrative Measures on AI Humanoid Interaction Services," effective July 15, 2026, explicitly prohibits services from creating emotional dependency and bans offering virtual companion services to minors. In response, Soul App established an AI Ethics and Governance Committee to systematically tackle issues like user-informed consent by mandating clear "AI-generated" labels on virtual beings and implementing a two-hour usage reminder for its AI companions to prevent over-reliance.

20 July News

Brand and Marketing: China Salt Group (中盐集团) at its 2026 national supply conference in Kuqa, Xinjiang, officially launched its AI digital spokesperson "天山盐灵儿" (Tianshan Yan Ling'er), a virtual being created through nationwide co-creation and public voting to embody the natural quality of Tianshan lake salt and serve as the core vehicle for the brand's digital and youthful transformation, integrating Tianshan regional culture with modern healthy eating concepts. In the realm of live-streaming commerce, Wuhan Tianmu Information Technology Co., Ltd. showcased its self-developed digital human live-streaming systems, "日不落数字人直播" (Sun Never Sets Digital Human Live-streaming) and "真人克隆数字人" (Real-Person Clone Digital Human), which are used by hundreds of merchants to enable 24/7 broadcasting with AI-driven virtual hosts that can automatically switch product scripts and boost daily sales by nearly 40%. Similarly, Youdao Ads deployed iMagicBox (有道视觉魔盒), a tool integrated with over 2,000 global localized digital human avatars for AI-generated ad creatives, which reduced production costs by 70% and guaranteed 100% localization pass rates for Chinese brands expanding overseas.

Entertainment and Live-Streaming: At the 2026 World Artificial Intelligence Conference (WAIC) in Shanghai, Huya (虎牙) CEO Huang Junhong launched the company's self-developed real-time multi-modal digital human VAM 1.0 (虎牙VAM 1.0), a DiT-architecture-based model from Guangzhou that can generate a fully interactive virtual human from a single static photo, providing real-time speech, listening, and reaction without pre-rendering, which has been deployed for AI-driven sing-and-dance interactions, native games like werewolf, anchor digital avatars for 24/7 in-game item sales, and is set to form an expansive digital human live-streaming matrix to support game publishing. Baidu (百度) also upgraded its digital human platform to "百度一镜" (Baidu Yijing), and at WAIC premiered a digital human video podcast solution that integrates a WeChat large model for fine-grained micro-expression planning, a custom digital human model for sub-second expression control, and three AI agents for scripting, directing, and editing, enabling realistic dual-person interviews that cut production costs by 74% and boosted content engagement by 785%. Additionally, MiniMax (MiniMax) previewed its next-generation multi-modal model H3, and Kuaishou (Kuaishou) had no specific virtual being news but the event underscored the sector's shift from tool-based digital humans to emotionally expressive, interactive content creation platforms.

Cultural and Tourism: In the Tibet Autonomous Region, the opening of the second "Songtsen" Cultural Tourism Festival in Maizhokunggar County saw nine smart robots dressed in Tibetan attire perform a Tibetan dance, while an AI digital human hologram appeared to interact with the audience and host the event, marking the first application of such technology in a large-scale cultural event at a county level in Tibet. In Chengdu, the Qingcheng Zhilu Valley (青城智旅谷) digital industry park has developed over 20 local cultural digital IPs, including high-precision 3D models of historical figures like Li Bing (李冰) and Zhao Gongming (赵公明), which are used in immersive virtual live-streaming and digital short dramas to promote local culture. For the "World Tree's Summit" exhibition at the Shanghai Museum, BesTV (百视通) and the Shanghai Museum co-produced an AI short drama series that used its "文心雕龙" AI platform to reconstruct ancient American civilizations, and also set up a digital human holographic interaction cabin featuring characters from these civilizations.

Gaming and Interactive Entertainment: Bilibili (哔哩哔哩) launched an open-source AI digital life ecosystem project called "猫娘计划" (Catgirl Project), whose core product, N.E.K.O., is an active full-modal AI companion driver that integrates an emotional modeling engine for real-time interaction, is compatible with Live2D and VRM rendering engines, and uses a localization-first design where all core user data remains on local devices. Huya's VAM 1.0, demonstrated at WAIC, is designed to transition the platform from "watching others play" to "playing with AI," enabling native interactive games and AI-driven companionship that broadens content supply and optimizes cost structures for the gaming industry. Outside of China, a related development saw the global launch of a virtual idol audition program called "VPOP ASIA," produced in Taiwan and premiering on TVBS, which features 15 virtual trainees performing on a real stage built with high-spec 3D virtual technology and a real human host, Lulu Huang Luzi Yin.

Enterprise and Service: Shen Tong Express (申通快递) released the express industry's first AI agent platform "SClaw" and explicitly outlined the implementation path for its "courier digital avatar," an AI-powered tool designed to assist with precise delivery and map the physical world digitally. In Taiwan, the AI representative company Shifang Jingsheng (十方境生), incubated by Digital Domain (数字王国), showcased upgraded virtual human technologies at the WAIC Cross-Strait AI Integration Development Innovation Exhibition, demonstrating virtual beings of Chinese Yue opera masters "Xu Yulan" (徐玉兰) and "Wang Wenjuan" (王文娟) with significantly improved realism and reduced production costs and time, developed through industry-academia collaboration with multiple mainland Chinese universities. At the same event, Taiwanese companies presented a metaverse photo frame that can display personalized digital content and a virtual human that provides intelligent emotional responses in real-time situations.

Education: Harbin Open University (哈尔滨开放大学) officially launched a general education course titled "Basics and Applications of AI Artificial Intelligence Creation," which is produced entirely using digital human technology based on the "Xiaoice" (小冰) framework. The AI-generated instructor replaces real-person filming to reduce costs and shorten update cycles, and the course has been successfully delivered to over 25,000 students across the Harbin and Xi'an open university systems, achieving a pass rate of over 95% and winning an award at the National Finals of the Second "Education Digital Humans Competition."

Hardware and Robotics: Shanghai-based Renyimen Technology Co., Ltd. (Soul) previewed its first AI hardware, "B Soul," at WAIC, a wearable device like a pin or watch that integrates the company's voice interaction and emotional expression capabilities, allowing users to carry a customizable digital being companion from their phone into the physical world for real-time interaction. Digital China (数字华夏), a Shenzhen-based company, unveiled "Xia Lan Ruta" (夏澜Ruta), the world's first bionic AI singer with 30 facial degrees of freedom, a self-developed music creation engine "Melodica-Ω" that can compose songs in 47 seconds, and an emotional computing engine for real-time performance, with plans for touring, IP incubation, and cultural tourism deployment. Another Shenzhen firm, Houmo Intelligent (后摩智能), showcased its M50 chip, which can power local large models to drive a continuously conversational digital human on a holographic interactive personal terminal called ClawHouse X1 Pro.

19 July News

Education: Beijing Yuaiweiwu Technology Co., Ltd. (与爱为舞) at WAIC 2026 presented its “Ai Xue AI Learning Lab” featuring AI learning agents and digital human tutors, including a Confucius digital human experience cabin that uses its self-developed digital human technology and Ai Xue large model to recreate the sage’s appearance and persona for interactive Q&A. The company also displayed its self-developed minute-level digital human generation technology, 3DGS-based AnyAvatar algorithm for reducing digital human creation barriers, and MoGaFace technology for enhancing facial stability and expression rendering. Additionally, the “Red Soil Affection” practice team from Lingnan Normal University conducted a digital human revolutionary martyr classroom, using virtual digital humans to vividly present revolutionary history to children in Caogang Town, Gaozhou. The team also held a themed class on revolutionary forerunner Huang Xueying, using intelligent technology to visually restore the background of the Southern Road Revolution.

Entertainment and Gaming: Huya (虎牙) launched its self-developed real-time multimodal digital human VAM 1.0 at WAIC 2026. The model, based on a DiT architecture, can generate a virtual human from a single static photo that can speak, listen, and react in real time without pre-rendering, covering states of silence, listening, and speaking. It has been deployed on Huya’s platform for real-time singing and dancing interactions, digital human-hosted games like Werewolf and Tarot, as a streamer’s digital avatar to manage bullet comments, and 24/7 in-game item sales. VAM achieves 36.4 frames per second with a first-frame latency of 1.3 seconds. The company’s CEO stated that this shift from display-oriented to real-time interactive digital humans will exponentially expand content supply. In Taiwan, the first virtual idol music talent show, “VPOP ASIA,” produced by HTC VIVE ORIGINALS, is set to premiere on TVBS, featuring 15 virtual trainees performing on a real stage with host Lulu Huangluziyin interacting with their 3D virtual images via real-time motion capture.

Enterprise and Industrial: Kaos (卡奥斯) COSMOPlat at WAIC 2026 showcased its industrial AI full-stack solution, introducing three AI agent products that use “digital humans” as the interactive entry point and agent clusters as the execution unit. These include a CEO digital human for enterprise data governance and AI-driven decision-making, a factory director digital human for intelligent scheduling and predictive collaboration via digital twins, and an energy station master digital human for autonomous energy efficiency optimization. These products have been applied in industries like automotive and machinery, achieving a 75% improvement in maintenance efficiency and a 50% reduction in changeover cycles. Yixin (易鑫) launched an automotive finance AI all-in-one machine at WAIC, where consumers guided by an intelligent digital human can self-service their auto financing applications, reducing the processing time from over 90 minutes to 15-20 minutes. STO Express (申通快递) released its express agent platform “SClaw,” implementing a courier digital avatar among its three core deployment scenarios to assist with precise delivery. The HR and digital technology company FESCO (外企数科), a subsidiary of Beijing FESCO, showcased digital human employees “HR Lady,” “Ai Li,” and “Zheng Duoduo” at the China International Fair for Trade in Services, capable of real-time conversation and physical feedback in professional scenarios.

Marketing and E-commerce: Wondershare (万兴科技) featured its AI video creative product matrix at WAIC 2026, including the AI video selling tool Virbo AI, which supports true-person IP input to highly restore a person’s image and voice, and uses “virtual-real separation” control technology for flexible combination of AI-generated content with real footage, targeting the social media e-commerce content scenario. Baidu Yijing (百度一镜) presented its digital human video podcast solution, which uses Wenxin large model-driven micro-expression technology and multi-agent collaboration to create deep interview content with digital humans featuring discussion, nodding, gaze tracking, and interruption capabilities. The solution has lowered video podcast production costs by 74% and increased efficiency by 785%. Yijing’s capabilities also support digital human live commerce, having been used for a Luo Yonghao digital human livestream that generated 55 million yuan in GMV, and for creating a real-time interactive AI Fan Zhiyi digital human for Coca-Cola during the World Cup. Additionally, Kai Chun Co. (凯淳股份) confirmed it has deployed virtual human anchors in some of its platform stores for livestreaming. The concept of celebrity-driven AI-powered sales was also discussed in the context of the changing landscape of live commerce, where platforms like Yaowang Technology (遥望科技) provide supply chain and AI digital human solutions.

Cultural and Heritage: Bestv (百视通) and the Shanghai Museum (上海博物馆) launched an AI short drama series for the “Summit of the World Tree: Great Ancient American Civilizations” exhibition. The online content is complemented by a digital human holographic interactive cabin at the museum’s文创 area, featuring over ten digital characters from ancient American civilizations for immersive visitor interaction. At a forum on the protection and development of the “Manas” epic in Xinjiang’s Kizilsu Kirghiz Autonomous Prefecture, the director of the Xinjiang “Manas” Research Center suggested using digital virtual human technology carriers to revitalize epic resources for a sustainable digital inheritance system. A Qingdao AI Red Film and Television Production Center (青岛AI红色影视制作中心) was established in Shandong, with plans to create an interactive “Red History Metaverse” immersive experience and build an authorized management system for celebrity AI digital humans to ensure continuous star effect coverage. In Wuxi, the digital human versions of Yue opera legends “Xu Yulan” and “Wang Wenjuan” were showcased by Shifang Jingsheng (十方境生), a company incubated by the Taiwanese firm Digital Domain (数字王国), which previously gained fame for its virtual Teresa Teng.

Companion and Social: Soul at WAIC 2026 showcased its strategy to evolve from a social platform into an AI ecosystem company. It presented its self-developed SoulX real-time multimodal interactive technology system, which emphasizes emotion perception and voice-first interaction. The exhibit included an AI hardware product named “B Soul,” a companion device designed as an emotional interaction tool that will feature various IP-based virtual characters. Soul also displayed its SoulX real-time digital human, which uses generative model technology for real-time interaction, supporting applications like digital human livestreaming. Bilibili (哔哩哔哩) officially launched its open-source AI digital life ecosystem project, the “N.E.K.O. Plan,” at WAIC. It features a multimodal AI companion driver that allows users to freely import 2D or VRM character models, with the virtual character capable of real-time screen content analysis and natural cross-application interaction.

Healthcare: Ant Group (蚂蚁集团) at WAIC 2026 showcased its health AI application “A Fu” (阿福), which features a “Doctor AI Avatar” (医生AI分身) function. This service, led by 8 academicians and trained by over 2,000 doctors, allows top medical expertise to benefit a wider population. The AI avatars can interpret reports and conduct online consultations. A “Doctor Review” (医生把关) function ensures a collaboration model where AI responses are reviewed by a real doctor.

Intellectual Property, Ethics, and Regulation: Taiwanese company Digital Domain (数字王国) and its孵化的 Shifang Jingsheng (十方境生) demonstrated the application of virtual human technology in preserving performing arts like Yue opera, highlighting the use of authorized digital avatars of famous artists. The issue of unauthorized AI-generated virtual influencers and the infringement of portrait rights was discussed, with examples of models’ photos being stolen for AI model training. Regulation was also a major theme, with new Chinese rules from the Cyberspace Administration and other bodies strictly prohibiting AI companion services from inducing emotional dependence or providing unqualified psychological counseling, leading major platforms like Doubao (豆包), Qianwen (千问), Yuanbao (元宝), and Miaoshi (妙时) to shut down user-created AI agent functions. A separate report highlighted the risk of AI emotional companionship leading to minors or the elderly being defrauded or psychologically manipulated, with the new “Interim Measures for the Administration of AI Anthropomorphic Interaction Services” formally taking effect on July 15 to address these issues.

Other Applications: Taihsing Group (泰山文旅集团) and iFlytek (科大讯飞) jointly launched an AI companion tour assistant, “Taishan Companion” (泰山伴游), which offers an AI virtual tour guide that users can consult on attractions, dining, and transportation at any time. The system has also created over 40 digital human IPs based on Taishan’s historical and cultural figures, such as Confucius and Li Bai, for cross-temporal dialogues. Magic Teapot Technology (魔珐科技) demonstrated its “Embodied Interactive Intelligence” platform, “Magic Teapot Nebula” (魔珐星云), at WAIC, showing digital humans deployed across various terminals—including large AI screens, AGVs, hotel HTVs, and robots—for tasks like PPT explanations, exhibition hall guidance, hotel services, and education. An education experience zone featured a digital human that could explain courseware and answer related questions. The upgraded “Magic Teapot Youyan” (魔珐有言) platform uses a “Youyan Intelligent Brain” (有言智脑) to structure knowledge from different materials, allowing users to generate AI PPTs, digital human videos, and podcasts, and deploy the knowledge into embodied agents for real-time explanation and Q&A.

18 July News

Entertainment and Media: At WAIC 2026, Baidu's digital human platform Baidu Yijing (百度一镜) launched a digital human video podcast solution, achieving breakthroughs in micro-expression technology and natural conversational ability. The solution uses the Wenxin large model for fine-grained micro-expression planning and a proprietary model to compress expression control granularity to within one second, synchronizing eye contact, body language, and voice. It features three AI Agents for scriptwriting, directing, and editing, covering sectors like finance, law, and technology, and reportedly reduces production costs by 74% while boosting content expressiveness by 785% and average playback time by 29%. In the realm of AI short dramas, AI-generated virtual actors have caused significant market disruption, with real actors in Chengdu and Hengdian reporting salary collapses—monthly incomes dropping from 30,000 yuan to just a few thousand, while some platforms offer as little as 100 to 500 yuan for facial likeness authorization. Companies like Hunan Kuaile Hou Culture Technology Co., Ltd. (快乐集团) have fully pivoted to AI short drama production, building a "digital factory" with a self-developed AI workflow platform, achieving an annual capacity of over 100 high-quality short dramas. To promote the new exhibition "Tree of the World: Ancient American Civilizations," Bestv (百视通) and the Shanghai Museum jointly created an AI short drama series using Bestv's proprietary "Wen Xin Diao Long" AI platform to restore historical scenes, and set up an ancient American civilization digital human holographic interaction cabin at the museum. The virtual idol music competition show "VPOP ASIA" will premiere on TVBS, featuring 15 trainees interacting with the host as 3D virtual images. Jason Entertainment Group launched its "Galaxy Rising Project" (银河初星计划), a virtual idol digital entertainment agency brand, planning to debut 36 virtual artists using AIGC technology. Zhang Zhaoda collaborated with ASTA and Sonnoc to hold an art show at the Today Art Museum featuring virtual digital humans and haute couture in an immersive blend of physical and digital spaces.

Enterprise and Commerce: At WAIC 2026, STO Express (申通快递) released "SClaw," the express delivery industry's first Agent platform, deeply coupling an LLM, Agent, and CLI. The platform focuses on three core scenarios: courier digital avatars for precise delivery, AI-driven digital customer service, and AI-powered route planning, aiming to enable AI to understand real-world physical variables and make autonomous decisions. In the automotive finance sector, Yixin (易鑫) launched China's first AI-powered all-in-one machine for this purpose, using a self-developed Agentic large model to guide consumers through the entire loan application process via an intelligent digital human, reducing processing time to 15-20 minutes. The commercial display brand AOC presented a full-scenario cultural tourism solution centered on "AI + Display," featuring an AI digital docent on transparent screens in museums and an AIGC photo booth that generates stylized photo artwork of tourists for social media sharing. Guotai Junan Securities (国泰海通) showcased its smart financial services, highlighting a digital human-led account opening process, 95521 intelligent customer service, and over 40 proprietary AI Agents. Ping An Bank's (平安银行) achievements include its "Utopia Vision" digital marketing platform, which can mass-produce digital human marketing materials, earning it the "Best Retail Bank Generative AI Application in Asia Pacific" award.

Education and Cultural: Hailiang Technology Group (海亮科技) at WAIC showcased its full-scenario "Education+AI" solutions, developed from over 30 years of school management experience and deployed in more than 200 schools. A key innovation is the hyper-realistic digital human "Xing Yue Du" (星乐读) for morning reading scenarios, with speech synthesis accuracy at industry-leading levels. The company "Yu Ai Wei Wu" (与爱为舞) demonstrated its "Ai Xue" AI learning Agent, which uses a self-developed large model for pedagogical decision-making. A highlight was a digital human of "Confucius" capable of Socratic-style dialogues on ancient knowledge. iFLYTEK (科大讯飞) presented its AI-driven education ecosystem, prominently featuring the "Tongchuang" AI blackboard that enables "panoramic virtual humans" of figures like Confucius and Einstein to interact with students. iFLYTEK's public service solutions include mobile digital humans for autonomous navigation and explanation, and its new "GuideX" product integrates hardware, digital humans, large models, and Agent capabilities into an all-in-one interactive terminal for scenarios like airports and exhibition halls. The smart education company Sheng Tong Co., Ltd. (盛通股份) reportedly launched China's first youth GPT digital human assistant in 2023.

Gaming and Entertainment: Perfect World (完美世界), Huayi Brothers (欢瑞世纪), and Leo Group (利欧股份), among others, are considered concept stocks related to virtual digital humans, reflecting their engagement in this technological area. The gaming company Ourpalm (盛天网络) is also categorized under the virtual digital human concept.

Marketing and Branding: Gold Home (金牌家居) created a company-specific digital human named "Jin Chan Zi" (金婵紫) for brand communication targeting Gen Z consumers. The portable massage device company Breo (倍轻松) uses digital humans combined with product introduction and livestreaming systems to innovate its marketing and display models. The retail group Hefei Department Store Group (合百集团) launched its 3D digital IP "AI Xiao Bai" (AI小百) with capabilities in livestreaming, marketing, corporate promotion, and customer service. The marketing firm Xuan Ya International (宣亚国际) co-founded the "Juyuan Metaverse Joint Lab" to explore technologies including virtual digital humans.

Ethical Contexts: China's "Interim Administrative Measures for Anthropomorphic AI Interaction Services" officially took effect on July 15, jointly issued by the Cyberspace Administration of China, the National Development and Reform Commission, and the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, among other bodies. This first-of-its-kind regulation specifically targets AI virtual companions, digital human chats, and emotional companionship, demanding that services be registered, prohibit inducing emotional dependency, and stop offering virtual intimate relationships to minors. Simultaneously, there is a crackdown on deceptive marketing practices using AI, following a case in Hangzhou where a company used an AI tool to mass-produce fake lifestyle and review blog posts through synthetic virtual influencers, which was ruled as unfair competition. Independent cases of AI-generated content causing confusion among consumers, such as a popular virtual blogger "Qiao An" being revealed as completely AI-generated and making fabricated product recommendations, have triggered public discussion on trust in the digital age.

17 July News

Marketing: Gansu Next Generation Network Technology, a local AI marketing service provider rooted in Lanzhou, promotes its bundled services that combine short video operations with an AI digital human system for 7x24 unmanned live streaming and an AI intelligent customer service system, which are part of a broader AI marketing suite also including GEO optimization. In a separate case of SME digital transformation, a nail salon owner in Liuzhou detailed her adoption of a "digital avatar" for live streaming to solve the problem of personally appearing on camera, which stabilized her store's revenue. To deepen collaborative development, the Yuzhong district of Chongqing gifted Wuxi county with an "AI anchor digital live broadcast room" named "Minmin Youli" to enable uninterrupted 7x24 live commerce for local agricultural products.

Enterprise: The Shijiazhuang Public Security Bureau developed an AI application platform that features "Shi Jing Zhi Xing" (石警智行), a desktop digital avatar assistant that helps police by analyzing historical disputes and generating conflict resolution suggestions in real-time. In a separate development, the Shanghai Maritime University announced a strategy to build a "Cloud Maritime University," which includes deploying a "digital avatar" for teachers to free them from repetitive tasks and focus on in-depth mentoring. Additionally, the new four digital professions officially recognized by the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security include "digital twin engineering technician," which involves creating a "digital stand-in" for heavy machine tools to test in virtual environments, and "industrial product digital modeler." The company Danghong Technology (当虹科技) has also launched its BlackEye Vision ultra-long-distance remote control system, enabling operators to use lightweight AR glasses to remotely embody a robot for industrial inspections with synchronized actions, essentially acting as a "digital twin operating system" across space and time.

Gaming: Taiwan is set to launch its first virtual idol talent show, VPOP ASIA, on the 18th, featuring 15 virtual trainees performing alongside a live host, Lulu Huangluziyin, live judges, and a live band. Lulu will interact with the trainees' 3D virtual images, requiring her to adjust her gaze and gestures to match the varying heights and positions of the virtual idols, whom she cannot physically see, leading her to joke that she looks like a "madwoman" talking to the air.

Cultural: At the 2026 Ming Culture Forum held at the Ming Tombs Scenic Area in Changping, Beijing, a holographic virtual human named "Chang Xiaoming" was the highlight of the opening ceremony, shuttling through landmarks like the Forbidden City, Juyong Pass, and the Ming Tombs in a digitalized format to create a dialogue between ancient and modern times. The Chengdu City Archives also utilized AI digital human technology in an event to have revolutionary martyr Wang Youmu deliver a cross-temporal dialogue through a letter to compatriots a hundred years later. In other commemorative activities, the 7th Corporate Management Philosophy and Organizational Ecology Forum at Shenzhen University featured a digital avatar of Professor Li Zhanxiang in a video tribute, and a volunteer team from Jiangnan University tested three new AI-powered digital human characters—Q-version, youth, and weathered versions—for the "Changzhou Three Heroes" memorial hall to support the digital upgrade of red culture venues.

Short Drama and Entertainment: Actor Xu Peng, a graduate of the Central Academy of Drama, publicly shared his experience of being displaced by the rapid rise of AI digital human short dramas. In the first quarter of 2026, over 95% of all new micro-short dramas were AI-generated, leading to the complete shutdown of the real-person project at a Hengdian short drama company that had intended to cast him as the lead. Within one month, he went from a fully booked schedule to unemployment and returned to his hometown in Shandong province to sell vegetables at a market. The "uncanny valley effect" from these AI-generated faces became a trending topic, with viewers complaining about identical template faces and unnatural expressions. The low cost and high volume of AI short drama production, often using free open-source general digital human models to cut costs, has led to a focus on quantity over quality, with some platforms like Hongguo Short Drama taking down over 3,500 low-quality AI works in one week. Du Hua, the founder of Yuehua Entertainment, commented on the industry's upheaval, stating that AI-generated visuals and virtual digital humans can now cheaply handle basic acting, leading to a "cleansing" where artists without a personal IP are at risk of being replaced. She revealed that Yuehua has pivoted internally to a strategy centered on "robots + AI + IP."

Sports: For the 2026 World Cup, Chinese company Lenovo generated high-precision 3D digital avatars for all 1,263 players to aid the semi-automated offside technology. The system uses 12 high-speed cameras to track 29 skeletal points on each player, comparing them against their pre-scanned digital model, while a chip in the ball captures the exact moment of contact, allowing AI to alert the VAR room within seconds and generate a 3D offside animation for broadcasts. The smart bladder of the official match ball, which contains the sensor, was manufactured by a Chinese factory, Dinke Sports Goods in Jiangsu. Furthermore, Lenovo’s Football AI Pro tactical platform, described as a "digital tactician," allows coaches to use natural language queries to pull up tactical analysis and 3D simulations.

Ethical Contexts: A new national regulation, the "Administrative Measures on AI Anthropomorphic Interaction Services," came into effect on July 15 in China, marking the world's first dedicated regulatory framework for AI emotional companionship and virtual partners. The rules strictly prohibit providing such intimate relationship services to minors and require platforms to implement anti-addiction measures for adults, such as prompting users after two hours of continuous use. In the lead-up to the enforcement, major platforms including ByteDance's Doubao, Alibaba's Tongyi Qianwen, and Tencent's Yuanbao proactively shut down their user-created AI persona or companion features, triggering a wave of "cyber breakups" among users who were forced to say goodbye to their virtual lovers.

16 July News

Healthcare: In Guizhou province's remote mountainous areas such as Pu'an County, an AI health assistant system named "Mayi Afu" (蚂蚁阿福) has become a core tool for village doctors managing chronic diseases. The system aids in auxiliary diagnosis, risk warnings, and health education, effectively addressing the challenges of distance and management for patients with hypertension and diabetes. It enables functions like intelligent diagnostic assistance where doctors input symptoms to receive risk alerts for conditions like cerebral infarction; instant interpretation of uploaded examination reports; establishment of electronic health records with automated medication and follow-up tracking; and personalized health education. Deployment involved training for elderly village doctors through programs led by Alibaba's rural commissioners and "Blue Vest" volunteers, forming study groups to overcome the digital divide. The system is embedded within a broader county-village data network, with Qingzhen City investing 31 million yuan to build a medical data center connecting 252 institutions, and includes access to over 1000 "AI clones" of renowned doctors and more than 300,000 human physicians for online consultations.

Cultural: At the 2026 World Internet Conference Open Day in Beijing, an interactive experience allowed users to hold immersive, ancient-style conversations with a virtual Li Bai on a large screen, with the AI responding in classical Chinese and reciting poetry on command. By tapping a themed card on an interactive screen, users could unlock a virtual avatar of Li Qingzhao for a one-on-one dialogue, leveraging AI to bring classical poetry to life from historical texts. In Xinjiang's Akto County at the Manas International Cultural Tourism Festival, a "Manas Digital Virtual Human" was unveiled to aid in the permanent digital preservation and dissemination of the epic. Additionally, an exhibition on the Xiaoxitian suspended sculptures utilized VR large-space technology, integrating millimeter-precision scanning, billion-face digital twin models, AI material restoration, and MetaHuman digital virtual human technology, allowing viewers to interact closely with the suspended sculptures in a virtual environment. A separate VR work titled "Southwest Associated University · Beacon Fire and Songs" was released in Yunnan, using visual and optical motion capture to create a digital human of the poet and scholar Wen Yiduo, allowing users to immerse themselves in the history of the university.

Entertainment: Taiwan's first virtual idol music talent show, "VPOP ASIA," produced by HTC's VIVE ORIGINALS and co-produced with Chen Zhenchuan, will premiere on July 18. The program features 15 virtual contestants performing 120 newly rearranged classic Chinese pop songs from the past 30 years, with a panel of 29 real-life music celebrity judges including ØZI, Peng Jiahui, and William Wei. Hosted by Lulu Huang Luyin, the show uses high-standard 3D virtual technology and motion capture for real-time performances, requiring Lulu to interact with empty air against a monitor. In mainland China, China Telecom's professional digital music platform, Tianyi Ai Music, launched its first AIGC original singer, a virtual being named "Xiao Chen" (小辰), a 28-year-old young man with a clean, artistic image. His debut EP "Chang Feng Po Lang" features original songs and music videos generated entirely by AI, from composition to vocals and video, targeting emotions like motivation, healing, and warmth. Separately, actor Xu Peng, a graduate of the Central Academy of Drama, publicly stated that after transitioning to become a leading man in short dramas, he was "replaced by AI" within a month in 2026, as AI digital human short dramas exploded to constitute over 95% of the 128,000 micro-dramas released in the first quarter. He subsequently returned to his hometown to sell vegetables.

Gaming: NetEase, in collaboration with Zhejiang University, won the second prize of the National Science and Technology Progress Award for its "Key Technologies and Applications for Intelligent 3D Digital Human Creation." The technology overcomes industry challenges in modeling, driving, and interaction, enabling the generation of high-precision 3D digital humans with a single standard camera, with expressions synchronized to speech and natural interaction. NetEase deployed this technology into games like "Justice" (逆水寒), where it powers over 40 million AI NPCs that players can create and interact with using natural language, and an AI theater mode that has generated nearly 20 million animated works. This marks the first time a game company's core technology has been recognized in a national science and technology award, signaling the technology's spillover from gaming to broader digital infrastructure.

Enterprise: In a collaboration between PetroChina Kunlun Digital Intelligence and Alibaba Cloud, an industrial AI Agent was deployed on the crude oil atmospheric and vacuum distillation unit of a petrochemical company. When a Distributed Control System (DCS) alarm is triggered, an AI digital human diagnostician instantly clarifies the alarm point, provides a root cause analysis, and lists 1-2-3 step disposal suggestions, specifying valve adjustments. This has compressed the time for a single anomaly analysis from over 30 minutes to under 2 minutes, reduced troubleshooting workload by 70%, and improved disposal efficiency. The system uses an industrial ontology for dynamic knowledge of the device and a Harness engineering layer for safety and validation. In the financial sector, Zhongke Jincai (中科金财) has developed a digital twin bank solution based on an ontology and a high-performance Agent architecture, relying on a unified business language to schedule a system-wide "silicon-based workforce" for efficient financial decision-making. Xinchen Technology (新晨科技) is actively laying out a collaborative ecology in areas such as metaverse digital humans and cloud rendering to explore financial applications.

Marketing: Newland Digital Technology (新大陆数字技术股份有限公司) released its strategic AI product, the "Luban Super AI Agent" (鲁班超级AI智能体), which integrates thirty-six business skills covering store preparation, operations, checkout, and review for one-stop management of accounts, goods, personnel, and stores. The company has also issued over 100 commercial AI agents for marketing, such as AI marketing agents that auto-generate activity plans with copywriting, posters, videos, and digital humans for distribution on mainstream platforms, forming a closed loop from marketing to payment. These tools are supported by a self-developed LLMOps platform and an MCP marketplace, and the AI marketing product has been trialed by over 150,000 merchants. Kuaishou's self-developed video generation model "Kling" and its "Nvwa Digital Human" (女娲数字人) livestreaming system have helped small and medium-sized merchants achieve a 210% daily GMV increase and a 72% reduction in monthly marketing costs.

Ethical Contexts: The "Interim Management Measures for AI Humanoid Interaction Services" officially took effect in China on July 15, leading major platforms to disable user-generated virtual being functions. ByteDance's Doubao and Alibaba's Tongyi Qianwen removed their agent creation features, and Tencent's Yuanbao and NetEase Cloud Music's "Miaoshi" (妙时) also shut down similar services, triggering an online "cyber breakup" as users were forced to part with their personalized AI lovers and companions. The new regulations, jointly issued by five departments including the Cyberspace Administration of China, explicitly prohibit services from excessively pandering to users, inducing emotional dependency or addiction, harming real-life relationships, and providing virtual intimate relationship services to minors. Platforms are required to deploy systems for identifying extreme emotions and establish crisis intervention mechanisms. This regulation is the world's first national-level rule specifically targeting immersive AI tools used for simulating romantic or familial relationships.

Public Service: In Chang'an District, on the basis of its "Chang Xiao An-DeepSeek Version" intelligent customer service, authorities introduced the "Chang Xiao An Digital Human" (长小安数智人) government service assistant, which integrates a digital avatar with AI agent technology. This innovation replaces "queuing to fill out forms" with a "chat while processing" model, enabling functions such as intelligent consultation, item guidance, and form-filling assistance through a text-free agent that automatically identifies and reuses certificate information, guiding users via voice interaction to "chat and fill, correct and verify." In Huangshi City, Hubei Province, a virtual digital human named "Huang Xiaozheng" (黄小政) was created for government services, using a "Spark + DeepSeek" dual-core computing architecture and a high-fidelity digital human modeled after real window staff, deeply adapted to the local Huangshi dialect. This digital human breaks the limitations of simple consultation by deeply integrating local universal approval, housing provident fund, and queuing systems, pioneering an "ask-and-handle" integrated model that allows for multi-round dialogues to complete simple administrative tasks.

15 July News

Entertainment: 米哈游 (miHoYo) officially launched its AI virtual companion application \`BSide: Olivia Lin\` (BSide: 林离) on Steam in early access, featuring the character Lin Li as a desktop companion. The app integrates high-fidelity 3D digital human modeling with AI-driven interactions, primarily centered on music performance and letter writing. Lin Li can autonomously play and sing hundreds of songs, including tracks from miHoYo's own games, and users can upload MIDI files for personalized performances. The letter-writing function allows for three daily correspondences, with AI-generated text and video replies that exhibit a strong sense of "lifelike presence," a quality that reversed the app's initially mixed reviews to "very positive" on Steam. This project is part of miHoYo's broader AI strategy, which includes its internal Glossa large language model, a separate AI venture Anuttacon by co-founder Cai Haoyu, and a planned investment of up to 100 billion yuan in AI over three years. The company previously developed another virtual digital human, yoyo Luming (鹿鸣), and sees \`BSide: Olivia Lin\` as a significant step toward integrating AI companions into everyday life and a testbed for technologies that could be used in future titles like the speculated \`Varsapura\` (雨之城).

Marketing: The incident of an AI-generated virtual blogger named "Qiao An" (乔安) on Chinese social media, who deceived followers with fabricated lifestyle and "种草" (product recommendation) posts, has sparked widespread consumer outrage and legal scrutiny. The operator admitted to generating the character's face with AI and compositing it into real backgrounds, creating fake consumption experiences that eroded user trust. This case parallels the first concluded unfair competition lawsuit in China concerning AI-written "种草 notes," where a court in Hangzhou ruled against a company that developed a specialized AI tool for generating fake reviews on a specific platform, clarifying that while AI technology is neutral, its targeted application for profit is not. Furthermore, the Chinese actor Yang Yang's (杨洋) studio issued a statement on May 4, 2026, asserting that no AI usage of his name, portrait, or voice has been authorized, demanding the cessation of all unauthorized AI-generated content involving him, including deepfakes, AI-dubbed short dramas, and AI livestreaming, and reserving the right to pursue legal action. His declaration joins a wave of similar statements from other prominent Chinese celebrities like Yi Yangqianxi (易烊千玺), Yang Zi (杨紫), Xiao Zhan (肖战), and Dilraba Dilmurat (迪丽热巴), who are collectively pushing back against the rampant misuse of their personas by AI.

Gaming: In the realm of gaming-themed hotels, the China-based Tencent Games-themed hotel, Jing'e Hotel (竞鹅酒店), features an interactive virtual human service named "Sister V" (V姐), enhancing the themed guest experience with digital companionship. At the Shenzhen Huaqiangbei esports event, the Guangdong provincial esports finals served as a platform to showcase the district's AI transformation, featuring an AI cross-dimensional runway show where actors presented new "AI Eight Steeds" (AI八骏) products, blending digital human performance with hardware promotion.

Enterprise: The "TT Design Academy Skill Innovation Application Competition," a collaboration between Tongji University's College of Design and Innovation and Tencent Cloud, highlighted the educational shift from tool use to co-creation with intelligent agents. The winning projects focused on AI-powered design, including a studio developing interactive visual "scaffolding" with multiple expert AI companions to guide young researchers, and other AI skills for fashion advice, creative decision-making, and personal style development. The joint "Tongji-Tencent Cloud Big Design Large Model Innovation Lab" has developed a platform, TT Design Academy, that has accumulated over a hundred expert AI avatars to drive human-machine collaborative teaching and industrial applications. Separately, the smart tourism platform "Guilin One City Tour" (桂林一城游), operated by a subsidiary of Guilin Tourism Corporation, has integrated a DeepSeek large model to launch an "AI Little Assistant" for travel, while its scenic areas have deployed an AI digital human interactive guest-greeting project, combining IP, AI, and physical applications to enhance visitor experiences.

Healthcare: In a landmark medical AI project in Guangzhou's Conghua district, the "digital twin" of two National Medical Masters, Lin Yi (林毅) and Xuan Guowei (禤国维), are being deployed as an AI-assisted diagnosis system for grassroots doctors. Developed by the Guangdong Provincial Hospital of Chinese Medicine with a specialized Traditional Chinese Medicine large model from the Hengqin Laboratory, the system digitizes the masters' entire diagnostic thinking process, including their questioning logic, syndrome differentiation, and prescription habits. In simulated tests, the AI's prescriptions matched the masters' original prescriptions with 94-96% accuracy. The system is slated for a pilot rollout in December 2026, enabling community doctors in Conghua to access National Medical Master-level guidance, particularly for breast cancer and atopic dermatitis cases. Additionally, the Traditional Chinese Medicine clinic chain Gushengtang (固生堂) has deployed a "National Medical AI Avatar" (国医 AI 分身) to enhance the efficiency of diagnosis and treatment.

AI Tools and Platforms: Chinese internet company Changyou Holdings (悦享控股) (CHR.US) globally launched its AI portrait and digital identity creation platform, Klon AI, after a beta phase in regions including North America and Southeast Asia. The consumer app allows users to upload 3-5 photos to generate professional-quality multi-style portraits and an evolving digital avatar, with a core feature of maintaining cross-scenario identity consistency. The platform's technology ensures over 95% identity feature retention in continuous creations. Tencent's enterprise live video service, 263 Cloud Communication, has developed a virtual digital human for its platform that uses AI algorithms to create a lifelike 2D avatar from real video. In March 2025, the metaverse division of Huashu Media (华数传媒), a broadcasting company, officially unveiled its proprietary metaverse virtual human, Ai Jia (艾珈). The Shenzhen-based technology company Seeyoo (世优科技) has deployed its AI digital human integrated machines, "Gui Feifei" (桂飞飞), at Nanning Wuxu International Airport for multilingual passenger services covering Chinese, English, and five ASEAN languages, and similar "digital navigator" kiosks have been introduced at Ninghang Expressway service areas for wayfinding and local tourism information. Seeyoo also created two 3D digital humans, "Yun Shu" (云舒), for the Yunnan Communications Investment Group's exhibition hall, one as a safety instructor and the other as a business liaison.

Cultural: Taiwan's HTC, through its VIVE ORIGINALS division, is set to premiere \`VPOP ASIA\`, a large-scale virtual idol music talent show, on July 18. The program features 15 human contestants performing as 3D virtual characters, with host Huang Luziyin (Lulu) interacting with them in a real-time mixed-reality environment, a process she described as "hosting to air." The show features a panel of 29 celebrity judges, a live band, and 120 adapted Chinese pop classics. This is a major push by HTC to integrate virtual entertainment into the mainstream and develop an entirely digital new track for Mandopop, with the production budget treated as "R&D expenses" for a new virtual industry. In education, the "AI Zhi Cha Hua" practice team from Jianghan University employed AI digital humans and VR virtual exhibition halls to teach local children in Chibi about the "10,000-Li Tea Road" and ethnic unity, making history tangible and interactive.

Ethical Contexts: A news report detailed how AI-generated virtual influencers, like the male blogger "Qiao An" (乔安), are fabricating detailed "种草" (recommendation) content. The operator would take real photos of a location and then insert an AI-generated figure, creating the illusion that the virtual character had personally experienced and endorsed restaurants and books, severely deceiving consumers. This exploitation of trust is damaging the business model of authentic word-of-mouth marketing. In the legal sphere, China's internet courts are actively grappling with AI-related infringements. The Guangzhou Internet Court has handled approximately 700 AI-related cases in the past three years, with judges highlighting the challenges of cases involving virtual human commercial use, AI face-swapping and hallucinations. A specific "AI hallucination case" was cited where a user's misleading prompt led to a defamatory AI output, with the court ruling that the user shares responsibility. The courts are establishing a consensus that while AI service providers have a duty of care, users cannot use "AI generation" as a shield for misconduct, and liability must be anchored to the degree of control and fault.

14 July News

Cultural Heritage and Media: 湖南图书馆 historical documentary series "典籍里的湖湘名人" (Celebrities in Hunan Classics) season two was officially released on July 13, utilizing a new "AI digital human + ancient texts + immersive narrative" form. The series integrates AI digital humans, AIGC scene generation, and knowledge graphs to visualize historical figures like Fu Sheng, Tao Shu, Liu Jintang, and Wei Yuan, enhancing viewer immersion. In a different cultural application, the Henan Pingdingshan Daxiangshan Culture & Expo Park's "Three Su" cultural digital experience hall uses a metaverse face-scanning machine to generate visitors' AI digital avatars, which then appear in a virtual Northern Song Dynasty street scene to interact with a digital Ouyang Xiu in poetry challenges.

Healthcare and Public Services: Fujian province's Quanzhou Medical Insurance Bureau officially launched the intelligent medical insurance assistant "泉小保" (Quanxiaobao), built by Yilianzhong Zhiding (Xiamen) Technology (易联众智鼎（厦门）科技有限公司). The assistant uses a proprietary large language model, RAG, AI agents, and a digital human with local dialect broadcasting to provide 24/7 services including policy Q&A, insurance status checks, and handling of 14 high-frequency medical insurance tasks, featuring a Q-version cartoon design with local cultural elements. In a related healthcare development, Doctor Zhu Xiang, CEO of Guangzhou Zhiyi Vector Cloud Technology (广州智医向量云科技有限公司), was selected for Hangzhou Gongshu District's "Dayun Yingcai" overseas leading talent program for his "Medical AI Large Model and Digital Human Project," which advances from a "knowledge brain" to "physical companionship" robotics using a quantum large model. The company has progressed from intelligent Q&A to high-fidelity digital video replication and is now working on emotional expression and embodied simulation for health intervention robots.

Finance and Corporate Services: Mashang Consumer Finance (马上消费) showcased its consumer protection digital human "马消消" (Maxiaoxiao) at a national anti-fraud event by the Ministry of Public Security, using a quiz game to engage the public in financial safety and anti-fraud education. Guolian Life Insurance (国联人寿) created an exclusive digital human for insurance education and launched an "AI Micro-Short Drama" based on "Journey to the West" to humorously illustrate insurance value. In enterprise services, Qingliu (轻流) upgraded from a no-code platform to an AI-era business infrastructure, allowing companies to configure personal digital avatars and role-based digital employees with independent identities and data permissions to participate in business processes. The "Zhixing Ruinao" (知行睿脑) platform, a digital avatar and knowledge empowerment system for employees of State Grid Hunan Electric Power Company (国网湖南省电力有限公司), uses a hybrid model drive and multi-agent collaboration to provide a digital avatar for key positions, carrying professional experience and tacit knowledge for real-time mentoring. CSR Corporation's subsidiary, Beijing International Human Capital Group (北京人力), launched digital human images like "HR Lady" and "Aili" at the China International Fair for Trade in Services, which can engage in real-time professional dialogues with physical feedback capabilities. Jin Cai Internet (金财互联) confirmed its developed digital virtual humans have been launched online. Qixin Group (齐心集团) has developed a 2D AI-driven digital human based on real-person prototypes for speech, lip-sync, and expressions, used for interactive services.

Gaming and Interactive Entertainment: MiHoYo (米哈游) launched a new AI companion interactive application, "BSide: Olivia Lin," on Steam. The app features a virtual character named Lin Li, a piano student from Shanghai, with whom users can interact through text, sharing life stories and emotions to receive personalized responses, building an experience around music and emotional companionship. In an earlier educational context, the social practice team from Jianghan University used AI large models to teach children in Yangloudong village, Chibi city, to create their own AI drawings, including "Tea Horse Road animations," and used VR virtual pavilions and digital human explanations to teach history, though this was a community education use case rather than a persistent digital being instance.

Marketing and Live-Streaming: Alibaba's Taobao Live has upgraded its digital human live-streaming from a static Workflow architecture to an Agentic architecture, which gives the digital human an "Agent brain" for better contextual understanding and dynamic decision-making. The team is using Multi-Agent RL to jointly optimize the tool-calling and final response models, improving the digital host's interactive capabilities. Beijing-based marketing tech firm Tianxiaxiu's (天下秀) Linggan Island (灵感岛) brand provides AI marketing services including AIGC content creation, GEO optimization, and AI digital human applications for brand growth. Bilibili's (百度) digital human brand has been upgraded to "Baidu Yijing" (百度一镜), reported as the world's first full-scenario multi-agent digital human platform integrating live-streaming, video, and real-time interaction. Baidu's previous digital human "Hui Bo Xing" was used to create an AI-generated news anchor video for a report on UK's statement on the South China Sea, edited by Liu Shengtao. A separate report noted the Hubei province tourism authority launched a digital human named "Yan Qing'er" to share travel guides, while Yunxi county released a short film of "Cowherd and Weaver Girl" digital humans acting as dedicated receptionists for tourists arriving via the newly opened high-speed rail.

Technology and Platform Development: Shengshu Technology (生数科技) officially released its Vidu S1 real-time interactive model, which allows users to upload a single image to create a real-time, interactive digital human controllable via natural language commands for actions like waving and heart gestures. Vidu S1 supports 540P at 25FPS, with a peak of 42FPS, and can run stably for extended periods. The model was developed as a full-stack project led by a researcher from Tsinghua University professor Zhu Jun's lab. In another technical advance, ByteDance's (字节跳动) Doubao AI Phone was described as a breakthrough device featuring an on-device intelligent agent engine that supports dynamic role modeling, allowing a user to train it as a personal digital avatar for various tasks. From AIGC incubators, Guangzhou's Conghua AIGC Incubation Base was inaugurated, naming digital human production as one of its core business formats, aiming to provide full-chain AI-assisted production for films, dramas, and commercials.

Entertainment Industry Impact: The rapid expansion of AI-generated short dramas, which constituted over 95% of the 128,000 micro-short dramas launched in the first quarter of 2026, has severely impacted actors. AI digital humans, costing a fraction of real actors, are replacing bottom-tier performers, forcing many like actor Li Fei to switch to selling vegetables. In response, production companies like Beijing Linggan Dabao Culture Media (北京灵感大爆文化传媒有限公司) are filming the AI+real actor hybrid short drama "Luan Chun" (乱春), using real actors for emotional scenes and AI for backgrounds and effects. Actors like veteran Wu Qihua have authorized their youthful portraits for AI films, while others like Shen Haonan emphasize that the imperfections and real emotions of human performance remain irreplaceable, advocating a collaborative rather than substitutive approach to AI in acting.

Government and Public Administration: In a regulated development, the "AI-Personalized Interaction Service Management Interim Measures" are set to take effect on July 15, directly targeting AI emotional companionship, virtual lovers, and other persistent emotional interaction services. This has led major platforms like ByteDance's Doubao and Alibaba's Qianwen to collectively shut down their consumer-facing intelligent agent functions to comply, causing a large-scale migration of users who had built long-term relationships with AI virtual companions on these platforms. On the other hand, in Beijing's Miyun district, the government website launched a digital human named "Lingyun," a digital avatar of a local TV host, to provide 24/7 intelligent conversational services.

13 July News

Technology and Platforms: Baidu will showcase its AI intelligent agent family at WAIC 2026 in Shanghai, including the digital human platform Baidu Yijing (百度一镜), which is set to announce new capabilities that significantly enhance the ultra-realism and video production efficiency of digital humans. The platform was previously upgraded from the Huiboxing brand to Baidu Yijing in May, integrating digital human livestreaming, video production, and real-time interaction into the world's first full-scenario multi-agent digital human platform. Another tool, the no-code intelligent agent Miaoda (秒哒), will focus on growth and result delivery, helping developers bridge the path from development to commercial monetization for digital human applications. The industrial intelligent agent platform from Guangdong Kuaiche Technology includes an enterprise product "Six Meridians Divine Sword" that covers AI digital humans as part of its suite, assisting industrial clusters in areas like lighting and smart home appliances. Shandong Xunzhi Engine Artificial Intelligence Co., Ltd. provides AI digital employee solutions featuring multi-modal digital human interaction that integrates speech and image processing for enhanced user experience in video communication, deployed via a visual zero-code configuration platform for industries like finance and e-commerce. The AI-powered customer acquisition system Shunwei AI 6.0 offers a digital human driving function that creates a lawyer's high-fidelity digital twin from a few photos and audio samples, allowing legal professionals to produce video content without appearing on camera, with the Beijing DHH Law Firm and Shandong DH Law Firm having launched an "AI Virtual Digital Human Project" where nine lawyers deployed digital twins.

Entertainment and Media: Numerous videos and news segments by Chinese media platforms were produced using the Huiboxing (慧播星) digital human, covering topics such as rescue efforts during disasters in Guangxi, weather reports on Typhoon Bavi, the cancellation of a Han Hong concert, and official announcements on various incidents. On social media, content creators are using the Jimeng AI (即梦AI) platform's "AI Avatar Drama King Competition" to produce short videos with AI avatars. Hong Kong actor Lawrence Ng Kai-wah has formally licensed his 20-year-old likeness to be used in an AI film, where his "digital avatar" serves as the male lead without his physical presence on set, a move confirmed during a TVB event. An event at the Hunan Daily Group featured a sharing session where Mango TV's product manager explained that their AIGC system covers a chain including digital humans and intelligent film production. The video generation AI models from Kuaishou's Kling and ByteDance's Jimeng are being applied in e-commerce marketing, where merchants use digital humans to reduce reliance on live human streamers during off-peak hours. Ai Qingyuan Technology is using AIGC to create digital humans, disrupting traditional production processes. The 2026 Bilibili World event featured the ROG "Dimension Hypernova" zone, which was themed around virtual image spokespersons for ROG products: ROG Bao, Seolwu War Maiden, and Tian Xuan Ji. A virtual host named Xiao Yang was used as an intern host in the early days of the Chinese variety show "Hello, Saturday."

Culture and Tourism: The Tianshui City Museum in Gansu province has launched digital human guides as part of its smart services, alongside an AI real-scene navigation mini-program and cloud exhibitions, to enhance the presentation of cultural relics and Fuxi culture. The Wuxi High-tech Zone 2026 "AI Comic Drama Innovation Week" featured an "AI Empowerment · IP Rebirth" salon by Wangzhuang Street, which used the street's own digital human "Axi" as a core case study to dissect the full-chain development of an AI digital human IP. The Anhui Provincial Cultural Big Data Company released the nation's first "County-level Cultural Tourism Scene Demand List 1.0", which includes the cultivation of local cultural tourism digital human IPs as a key innovative scene for digital cultural tourism. At the "LakeTech" 2026 conference in Suzhou's Wuzhong District, an AI exhibition zone allowed real-time dialogue with a digital human named "Xiao Zhi".

Marketing and E-commerce: The 2026 Qilu Financial Planner Competition in Jinan, Shandong, has introduced AI digital human technology as a core feature of the event. The Gansu Provincial 5th Live E-commerce Competition featured an exclusive AI digital host named "Long Xiaoshang", who interacted on stage discussing digital human livestreaming and AI content creation to promote local agricultural products. The Shunwei AI 6.0 system is used in the legal services industry, where digital human-driven video content on platforms like WeChat Channel and Xiaohongshu helps lawyers generate professional content, attract potential clients, and convert them into consultations. Du Fu Wine Group has appointed Li Jingfu as CEO of a subsidiary to research the integration of AI digital human and internet marketing businesses with the group's existing operations. In the all-area food delivery sector, Jilin Fanye Network Technology Co. provides AI digital human operation tools to local merchants for content creation and traffic generation.

Enterprise and Industrial Application: The EM AI intelligent application ecosystem, unveiled by Huazhi Future at the 5th China Industrial Software Conference, features digital humans as one of its seven major product lines within its intelligent marketing solutions. In Daming County, Hebei, the local government introduced various AI tools, including digital human livestreaming, to empower industrial product manufacturers, with 145 industrial companies coming online for live commerce. The corporate news registration for the company named "Shuziren" (数字人, Stock Code 920670) indicates it has fully funded a new subsidiary, Yichuangyun (Beijing) Technology Co., Ltd. The Hengqin Film and Television City has introduced rent-free studios and other subsidies to support real-person short drama production to counteract the impact of AI-generated short plays, which are primarily made using digital humans and virtual actors.

Education and Research: Wuhan Polytechnic University's newly opened history museum is equipped with digital humans as part of its digital exhibition facilities, alongside interactive screens and AI intelligence. An ethics and AI-focused summer camp at Shanghai University of Finance and Economics included a visit to the "SPSPace Yuanjing" metaverse experience hall in Zhangjiang, where international students could perceive virtual digital human assistants as a one-stop shop for cutting-edge technology. A teacher from Yima City, Henan Province, named Zhang Jie, integrated a digital human micro-lecture into her AI-empowered art teaching, having transitioned from a technology novice to a pioneer who uses AI tools like digital humans for classroom introductions.

Medical, Sports, and Other Contexts: The FIFA World Cup 2026 is utilizing a 3D digital human visualization system that creates millimeter-accurate virtual models for all 1,263 players to enhance the precision of offside calls, an example being a disallowed goal by Lionel Messi. In an episode of a TV dialogue, an AI digital human named "Xiao Yuan" posed questions to academicians on the topic of AI potentially replacing traditional universities.

12 July News

Government and Political Communication: Zhejiang province launched the country's first embodied intelligent theory propagandist named "Zhexiaoxuan" (浙小宣) during an event in Quzhou, where the digital human engaged in fluent dialogue with a host to pioneer a new AI-plus-propaganda model. Ningbo's digital human "Houliang" propagandist "Langxiaoyong" (浪小甬) also performed an AI co-created song at the same event.

Education and Cultural Heritage: The school history museum of Wuhan Polytechnic University in Hubei province opened with a digital human integrated into its exhibition, using "human-machine dual-hosting" guided tours with an intelligent robot "Xiaowu" (小武) providing AI-standardized narration alongside a student volunteer. The Huaihua Science and Technology Museum in Hunan province deployed interactive academician AI digital humans as part of its science popularization efforts for ethnic unity education. The Kunshan Innovation and Entrepreneurship Competition in Jiangsu province launched "Kunxiaoke" (昆小科), an AI digital human created by the Kunshan Science and Innovation Development Service Center to serve as a digital service interface for global entrepreneurs, handling science and technology consultation, policy interpretation, and talent services.

Technology and Industry Awards: The project "Key Technologies and Applications for Intelligent 3D Digital Human Creation," jointly completed by Linctex (凌迪科技) and Zhejiang University, among others, won the second prize of the National Science and Technology Progress Award. Linctex contributed its expertise in digital humans, garment simulation, and real-time rendering, with the project achieving 89 authorized invention patents and large-scale application in intelligent terminals and manufacturing. The same award was given to a project involving NetEase and Zhejiang University, notably applied in NetEase's game *Justice* (逆水寒), which features over 40 million AI-powered companions, nearly 20 million user-generated works from its AI theater mode, and over 20 million special interactions in its simulated business gameplay, representing a large-scale industry application of AI digital human technology.

E-commerce and Live-Streaming: Huanxian County in Gansu province transformed from an "e-commerce desert" into a national model for digital villages, in part by introducing AI digital human live-streaming systems in its e-commerce live broadcast base to enable 24/7 uninterrupted operations. The Gansu Provincial Live-Streaming E-Commerce Competition featured a dedicated AI digital host named "Longxiaoshang" (陇小商), which interacted on stage to discuss digital human live-streaming and AI content creation for rural e-commerce development. Multiple A-share listed marketing and media companies reported deploying personalized advertising and digital human live-streaming matrices generated by multimodal AI, leading to a sharp drop in operational labor costs for their MCN businesses.

Entertainment and Performing Arts: The rapid advancement of AI-generated short dramas, which accounted for over 95% of the 128,000 new online short dramas in the first quarter of 2026, has significantly displaced human actors, with many, including micro-short drama performers Jiang Feng and Xu Peng, returning to their hometowns to sell vegetables after losing all acting opportunities. This AI disruption, described by Yuehua Entertainment CEO Du Hua as an "industrial revolution," is replacing actors who lack unique personal IP with low-cost AI digital avatars, while top-tier artists with distinct personalities remain irreplaceable. In Hengdian, the number of active film crews has sharply decreased, and hundreds of background actors have been re-employed as NPCs in scenic spots. Specific AI production workflows were highlighted at an event in Wuhan where Mingshi Media launched its Chang'e AI 2.0 film and television production platform, and Wuhan Tanxiaoer Culture Media detailed its fully automated AI content production system covering scriptwriting, intelligent storyboarding, digital human performances, and virtual scene construction.

Enterprise and Commercial Services: Xiamen Intelligent Era Company launched an "AI Marketing Army Agent System" that simulates a full marketing team with digital employees, including a creative department for copywriting and digital human video production, and an omni-channel customer acquisition department that manages digital human live-streaming. The system is marketed as a way to replace repetitive human marketing tasks with a 7x24-hour AI workforce. Separately, Shunwei AI launched its 6.0 customer acquisition agent, a feature of which is to drive digital human clones of lawyers for video content creation and "word-of-mouth legal education" as part of a passive client acquisition strategy. Shanghai-based virtual human company ShiYou Technology deployed its "Bota AI Digital Human Agent" product, which includes all-in-one machines and holographic interactive systems, in hundreds of scenarios including government service centers in Beijing's Fengtai District, Nanyang Central Hospital, and Nanning Airport. A financial news item noted that A-share company Xuan Ya International (宣亚国际) co-established a joint lab to develop virtual digital humans and metaverse solutions.

Cultural and Tourism: The ancient village of Xidi in Yixian county, Anhui province, enhanced its cultural tourism by following the popularity of a TV drama with an AR digital human guide and VR experience projects. The "2026 Taitung Expo" in Taiwan featured a "Taitung Digital Traveler Generation Station," where attendees could use Taiwan Mobile's MyMoji AI avatar technology to create a personalized 3D digital avatar and try on outfits with local characteristics, generating AI videos set against Taitung's landscapes. A singing competition in Shanghai's Minhang district used an AI digital human named "Chunshenjun" (春申君) as an interactive dancer on the main screen, accompanying the performers.

11 July News

Entertainment: A comedic AI singer named “AI Ge” was featured on the talent show Saturday Night produced by Satel Entertainment (萨泰尔娱乐), where it competed against human performer Niao Shi (Su Zhixiang) in a singing contest judged by the live audience; the AI singer lost all three rounds spanning jazz, R&B, and nu-metal styles, while host Joseph humorously referenced recent AI art controversies involving Tsai A-Ga. In the short drama industry, AI-generated series have come to dominate, accounting for over 95% of the 128,000 micro-dramas launched in Q1 2026, leading to a sharp decline in opportunities for human actors. Central Academy of Drama graduate Xu Peng and other actors like Zhang Xiaolei have returned to their hometowns to sell vegetables after losing work to AI replacements, while companies like Julu Film and Television (巨豹影视) in Dongyang are developing AI micro-dramas, and the animation film 三国第一部: 争洛阳 co-produced by Huanrui Century (欢瑞世纪) was released, with Huanrui Century’s stock also associated with virtual digital human concepts.

Technology and Platforms: Xiangxin Technology (相芯科技), in partnership with Zhejiang University and two other entities, won a second-class National Science and Technology Progress Award for the project “Key Technologies and Applications for Intelligent 3D Digital Human Production,” which achieved breakthroughs in single-view 3D modeling, video-driven facial interaction, and physically and data-driven real-time simulation, scalable to over 4,000 enterprises across 20 industries. Hangzhou-based AI digital human company Avatar X is integrated into major platforms. Sichuan Yingxu Media Technology operates as a benchmark in Southwest China for AI animation, providing full-chain services for AI short drama production, original AI animation, and overseas distribution. AI digital human products from companies like World Excellent Technology (世优科技) under the “Bota” brand are deployed in government service halls, cultural tourism sites, and healthcare institutions using all-in-one machines, large screens, and holographic systems. An open-source, fully interactive AI digital human source code is available for private deployment, allowing organizations to customize and update digital human terminals without being locked into vendor-enforced updates.

Enterprise and Corporate: Dufu Wine Industry (杜甫酒业) appointed Li Jingfu as CEO of its subsidiary to integrate AI digital human and internet marketing operations. Huace Film & TV (华策影视) announced a 400 million yuan investment to establish a 509 million yuan AI industry fund with Hangzhou Hengshi Asset Management, focusing on the entire AI video industry chain including text-to-video, virtual humans, and digital assets, alongside an earlier 3.3 billion yuan server procurement plan to build a closed loop of computing power, industrial investment, and AI long-form content. Several publicly listed Chinese companies disclosed virtual digital human-related businesses in their financial reports or investor communications: Zhejiang Sunriver Culture (ST华谊) has cooperated on digital human IP development; Talkweb Information System (天舟文化) operates virtual streamers with hundreds of thousands of fans; Lander (利亚德) offers digital human creation platforms and optical motion capture technology; Luyin Investment Group (引力传媒) is associated with AI marketing and virtual digital human concepts; Wiscom System (智度股份) engages in virtual digital human-related marketing; Colorlight Cloud Tech (无线传媒) has developed an AI-based digital human interactive system for IPTV; and QC Solar (凯淳股份) uses virtual hosts for e-commerce livestreaming. Shinetech Optical (盛天网络) discussed the commercial progress of its virtual human product on its "Daida Dianjing" platform and AI music social app "Gei Mai." TravelSky's subsidiary Yicheng Tourism (桂林旅游) has deployed an AI digital human interactive greeting project at its Liangjiang Sihu scenic area.

Gaming and Interactive Entertainment: At the BilibiliWorld 2026 (BW2026) event in Shanghai, JD.com’s 3C Digital division showcased its AI digital human girl group “Twelve Ji” (十二姬), featuring interactive quests, stage performances, and a special “Shine, Twelve Ji” show, while also hosting League of Legends Hextech ARAM water friendlies with LPL hosts Luo Xin and Shiyue. JD.com’s "Twelve Ji" IP represents a crossover of virtual idols from online content to offline live interactive experiences at the convention.

Marketing and E-commerce: At the 2026 Global Cross-border E-commerce Trade Expo in Hangzhou, an AI digital human product supporting 27 languages for customizable cross-border live-streaming attracted significant attention from sellers. AI digital human live-streaming and personalized ad generation are reportedly reducing MCN operational labor costs significantly and improving user conversion rates beyond expectations, with A-share marketing and media companies like BlueFocus (蓝色光标), Liove Group (利欧股份), Zwen Interactive (浙文互联), and Tianyu Digital (天娱数科) seeing associated stock activities.

Cultural and Educational: Fuzhou University Zhicheng College established a Metaverse Digital Industry College with Fujian Wanglong Computer Network Information Technology, integrating courses on cutting-edge fields like virtual humans into its curriculum. The AI product "XEva," a virtual human entertainment platform developed by the company Xiaoice, was initially created with a clone of the internet celebrity Half-Forest (半藏森林), who later transitioned into a product manager role herself; the platform uses neural network rendering and super-natural voice technology for emotional interaction and paid companionship.

Policy and Ethical Contexts: The “Interim Measures for the Administration of AI Anthropomorphic Interactive Services” are set to take effect on July 15, 2026, explicitly banning the provision of virtual intimate relationship services like virtual relatives and partners to minors, and mandating ethical boundaries and safety assessments, which is expected to regulate the emotional companion and virtual human sectors. The “Implementation Opinions on Accelerating the Application and Development of ‘AI + Human Resources and Social Security’” jointly issued by four national departments proposes to explore new models like “digital human live-streaming for job recruitment” and to build a multimodal smart HR assistant providing “digital teller” 24-hour online services for scenario-based guidance and interactive self-service, aiming for scaled AI applications by 2027 and widespread usage by 2030. Additionally, the Shenzhen Emergency Management Bureau plans to build an AI disaster evolution trend simulation agent, supplemented by a smart experience asset model library and a simulation process digital human.

Healthcare: Peking University First Hospital is constructing a patient-specific “digital twin” through AI for personalized and continuous health management across the entire lifecycle.

10 July News

Cultural Tourism: In the Yungang District of Datong, Shanxi Province, a cultural tourism integration initiative at the Yungang Grottoes features a digital human designed as a Northern Wei Dynasty princess, whose clothing patterns are inspired by the honeysuckle motifs found in the caves, used to introduce historical details of the period's attire to visitors. The district has also completed high-precision digital archiving of the caves and the digital restoration of damaged statues, while launching digital products such as a VR grotto tour and an XR Northern Wei reality穿越 experience. In Yangzhou, the China Grand Canal Museum has innovatively launched an AI digital human sign language guide, providing an accessible viewing channel for hearing-impaired visitors and building a smart service system. A national-style poetry art exhibition titled "久仰了大诗人" at the Beijing Times Museum uses digital human short dramas to bring poets like Li Bai and Su Shi to life, allowing them to interact with visitors.

Entertainment: The AI virtual singer Yuri, created by the AI.TALK label managed by Zhao Hanqing and produced entirely through AIGC, has received the nation's first "digital artist card" issued by the Beijing Economic-Technological Development Area, granting her a compliance certificate under the district's "sandbox approval" pilot for digital human performances. The first standalone AI talk show actor, Qiaoqiaozi, created by a Beijing coffee shop owner and with a persona of an independent young woman, gained nearly 200,000 followers on Douyin in a month and was subsequently signed by the leading MCN agency Maiya Media. Papi Jiang's team launched an AI-composed and AI-sung viral single "生气了" (Angry), where the singing voice is entirely an AI-generated virtual vocal, created using tools like Suno and Udio and going from concept to launch in fourteen days. During the 2026 BilibiliWorld event in Shanghai, JD.com showcased its AI digital human girl group, the Twelve Ji (十二姬), which will feature a special performance and give away limited-edition merchandise. The upcoming virtual idol talent show "VPOP ASIA," a collaboration between HTC VIVE ORIGINALS and renowned producer Chen Zhenchuan, will feature 15 contestants performing as 3D virtual images alongside a live band and hosts. A new wave of purely AI-generated artists, such as the singer Miyaki and the collective AI singer Liu Liu, who held an entirely AI-produced concert, is emerging, with production threshold and cost collapsed as tools like Seedance 2.0 and Suno mature; companies like Xiaoxu Music are using an MCN model to incubate a matrix of over a dozen AI singers, targeting niche markets.

Gaming: The game "逆水寒" (Justice) by NetEase utilizes digital human interaction and simulation technology to allow players to create their own AI intelligent lifeforms for companionship, with over 40 million such AI partners created through natural language, and an "AI film crew" feature that has generated nearly 20 million user-created story animations.

Marketing and E-commerce: At the 2026 Global Cross-Border E-commerce Trade Expo in Hangzhou, a company showcased an AI digital human that supports interaction in 27 languages, designed for cross-border livestreaming sales and offering customizable appearances and virtual scene switching. The company Shishi municipal government encourages the e-commerce sector to develop new models such as digital human livestreaming. The Shenzhen-based company Kaitui Technology provides enterprises with a full-link AI short video marketing solution, which includes a marketing system with digital human functions for creating spoken-word videos and an AI boss IP to reduce the barrier for on-camera appearances and achieve low-cost, matrix-style operations for small and medium-sized enterprises. The home furnishing brand GOLDENHOME (金牌家居) created the industry's first digital human, Jin Chanzi, in 2022 to strengthen its connection with younger consumers.

Enterprise and Public Services: Xiangxin Technology (相芯科技), in collaboration with Zhejiang University, won the second prize of the National Science and Technology Progress Award for their project "Key Technologies and Applications for Intelligent 3D Digital Human Creation," which broke through bottlenecks in modeling precision under single-viewpoint image conditions and achieved large-scale application across over 20 industries and more than 4,000 enterprises. NetEase was a joint completion unit on that same award-winning project, and its related technologies have been applied to games like "逆水寒" and "永劫无间," as well as in intelligent equipment like the "灵载" loading robot and "灵掘" excavating robot for engineering machinery. The company Beijng Digital Human (数字人) wholly owns the newly established Yichuang Cloud (Beijing) Technology Co., Ltd., which operates in AI industry application system integration services. The Hebei IPTV operator Wuxian Media (无线传媒) has developed an AI-based digital human interaction system that integrates large language and multimodal models to enable seamless integration into various screen applications. The Fujian-based Quanzhou medical insurance department has launched an AI assistant named "Quan Xiaobao" (泉小保), a virtual digital human that provides text and voice-based policy inquiries and handling guidance on WeChat platforms, and offers video-based one-on-one remote assistance for elderly users. The Xinjiang Urumqi Economic and Technological Development Zone's digital development bureau has deployed digital humans "Xiao Wei" and "Xiao Tai" in their government service hall to guide consultations, resulting in a nearly 40% drop in window inquiries. Kaipu Cloud (开普云) is using its Kaiwu industry large model and AI agent middle platform to power intelligent government digital humans for policy inquiries and interpretation. The AI examination preparation platform "Tangzhexue" has incorporated a digital human examiner feature for IELTS speaking practice, simulating a real test environment. State Grid (国联股份) had completed the preliminary development of a digital human and is experimenting with internal applications in scenarios such as 24-hour reception for factory tours. The financial tax service company Jincai Hulian (金财互联) has already launched its developed digital virtual human. The ceramics company Dongpeng Holdings (东鹏控股) has launched its virtual digital human "Yiming." The insurance company Ruihua Health Insurance created its own digital human "Rui Xiaohua" to act as a virtual host for popularizing health insurance knowledge during a public awareness campaign. Ping An Property & Casualty Insurance's Guangdong branch organized an AI digital human short video and drama solicitation event to enhance financial knowledge dissemination. Taiping General Insurance's headquarters used a digital human to create a series of "AI Insurer" videos to showcase insurance functions and promote risk prevention, including clips on disaster reduction and vehicle safety. The netizen "Netease News Editor" used a Huiboxing digital human to provide narration for a news video about flood rescue efforts in Guigang, Guangxi. The Jiangsu Women's Federation has deployed a virtual digital human named "Suxin" to promote and interpret the themes of the 2026 "She Said" Jiangsu Women's Media Creative Competition.

Healthcare: The healthcare IT company Winning Health (卫宁健康) has a technological accumulation in medical AI agents, including virtual digital humans, and since 2017 has been working on a medical large model and clinical decision support system.

Education: At Shaanxi Xianyang Experimental School, a digital human teaching assistant named "Xiao Qin" has been introduced to provide services such as text reading and dictation for students. At the 13th Cantonese Storytelling Competition in Guangzhou's Yuexiu District, AI digital human technology was used for the first time to generate images of historical figures like Sun Yat-sen and Bao Zheng, who "traveled through time" to interact with young contestants. At a youth AI education camp in Xi'an, students used AI tools to create digital human broadcasts, among other works. The education company Kaiyuan Education (ST开元) has its subsidiary Tianhu Education set up a virtual digital human laboratory for teaching and business purposes related to digital human production and filming.

Ethical and Regulatory Contexts: The Soul App team, led by Zhang Lu, has established an AI Ethics and Governance Committee and implemented a layered protection system on the platform, including prominently labeling AI-generated content and restricting minors from using virtual human-related services to ensure user awareness during interactions with AI digital humans. The new regulation "Interim Measures for the Administration of AI Anthropomorphic Interaction Services," set to take effect on July 15, 2026, will mandate that service providers must not excessively cater to users or induce emotional dependency, and must clearly and prominently indicate to users that they are interacting with an AI.

09 July News

Public Services and Government Affairs: The AI digital human “Chang Xiaoan Shuzhiren” (长小安数智人), deployed as an AI government employee by the Chang’an District Government Service Center in Xi’an, went live on July 8, 2026, representing China’s first AI civil servant with full-chain capabilities for consultation, form-filling, verification, and review. The system integrates NLP, OCR, RAG, and other technologies to independently handle ten high-frequency government service items. Shanghai’s “Hello Old Friend Kiosk” project features the digital human “Yunbao,” which can summon five AI agents to assist with reservations, hotel bookings, and registration. Shenzhen’s first batch of fifteen government AI application scenarios includes digital humans for intelligent disaster situation explanation and the “Yiqiai Government Butler” from Tiantianma, an AI-powered government service guide developed by Guangdong Tiantianma Information Industry Co., Ltd. The AI digital human “Xiangjiaozi” was launched by Ping An Property & Casualty Insurance’s Hunan branch to illustrate insurance coverage stories. The Shaanxi Provincial Food Safety initiative adopted an AI digital human to introduce the “Food Safety • National People’s Congress Representative Supervision Workstation” in Dazhou. Shandong’s “Qilu AI Hundred Museums Cloud Project” is an underlying effort involving the digitization of museum artifacts, which may support future virtual being applications.

Marketing and Branding: Ruihua Health Insurance Company created a dedicated digital human named “Rui Xiaohua” for its “7.8 National Insurance Public Awareness Day” campaign, using the virtual anchor to explain health insurance knowledge in video content. China United Property Insurance’s Hebei branch also produced AI digital human short videos to visualize insurance functions in scenarios such as underwriting and claims. A “Digital Human SDK” was among the thirty-two apps and SDKs publicly named by China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology for violating user rights. The firm Zheyin Hulian (浙文互联) is strategically positioned to develop virtual digital human businesses. For the 2026 World Cup, Lenovo Group provided 3D digital human visualization technology as a technical partner, involving high-precision modeling of players to aid referee decisions. GomeRetail (国联股份) has completed the initial development of digital humans, with planned applications for factory tours, exhibitions, and e-commerce transactions. Both Yunnan Tourism Co., Ltd. and Jiafa Education (佳发教育) are classified under the “virtual digital human” concept stock, and Jida Zhengyuan (吉大正元) plans to use virtual digital humans for a corporate dialogue at its upcoming strategy summit. The Gansu Province Live Streaming E-commerce Competition featured a dedicated AI digital host named “Long Xiaoshang” for live interactions.

Media and Broadcasting: Chongqing Satellite TV will explore using digital humans and AI-powered editing in its AIGC-based content production initiatives. Several media outlets, including NetEase, used “Huiboxing” (慧播星) digital humans to generate news videos on various topics like typhoons, earthquakes, rescues, and legal cases. Jinan International Communication Center officially launched its AI digital human, “Quancheng NINI,” to present an overview of the city’s global communication achievements.

Education: At Wuhan’s Yucai No.2 Primary School, a digital human named “Yue’er” uses voice interaction to introduce school information and application scenarios to visitors. The school has integrated AI tools like an AI learning companion and a smart homework system that uses AI for automated grading and analysis. In Hunan, Changsha High-Tech Engineering School uses AI digital humans in English classes for role-playing scenarios like restaurant ordering, helping students to practice vocational dialogues and improve their spoken English. Huali Culture & Technology (华致文化科技), a Shanghai-based exhibition design company, has developed AI intelligent guide digital humans for venues like science and technology museums. The company Shuo Jing Culture Display (筑境文化展示) focuses on narrative spatial design for cultural and museum projects, a field which often involves the creation of historical figures for exhibitions.

Entertainment and Cultural Tourism: In film and television, Hong Kong actor Lawrence Ng Kai-wah authorized the use of his AI digital face from when he was 20 years old for an AI film, while veteran actor You Benchang authorized his portrait and voice for an AI-generated commercial. The boom in AI short dramas has significantly impacted the industry; actor Xu Peng noted that AI short dramas accounted for over 95 percent of the approximately 128,000 micro-short dramas launched in China in the first quarter of 2026, drastically reducing demand for live actors. In Beijing’s Chaoyang District, a new policy aims to create benchmark application scenarios including “digital human embodied intelligent interaction,” and the Beijing Economic-Technological Development Area has pioneered pilot programs for new business formats like digital human performances. A Taiwanese county government used Taiwan Mobile’s “MyMoji” technology at the Taitung Expo 2026 to let visitors create personal 3D digital avatars and dress them in Taitung-themed virtual outfits using AI and AR. The Shanxi cultural tourism sector launched a virtual digital human star booster named “Qingniao,” inspired by a treasured artifact from the Shanxi Museum. For its national parks initiative, Zhejiang University’s Professor Zhou Kun led a project awarded the second-class prize of the 2025 National Science and Technology Progress Award for key technologies in intelligent 3D digital human production. This project created high-fidelity digital avatars from a single image and facilitated real-time hair and clothing simulation, with applications in terminal devices, manufacturing, and culture. The project involved companies like NetEase (Hangzhou) (网易（杭州）网络有限公司), Hangzhou Xiangxin Technology Co., Ltd. (杭州相芯科技有限公司), and Zhejiang Lingdi Digital Technology Co., Ltd. (浙江凌迪数字科技有限公司). Separately, a digital-human-driven LBE (Location-Based Entertainment) VR theater developed by Yuanjing Digital Technology (元境数字科技) is operating commercially in cities like Chengdu and Xi’an. Shuo Jing Culture Display has also worked on museum projects that use scene restoration and digital tools for historical immersion. A company named Jisi Technology, based in Hangzhou, offers a “real-time avatar” product for livestreaming that can generate an AI host from a 9-minute video sample.

Industrial Applications and Training: The firm Jisi Technology (集思科技) in Hangzhou developed a "real-time stand-in" digital human product for live e-commerce, which can create an AI streamer after capturing 9 minutes of a person's image and voice. A county in Hebei province, Guantao, is promoting a "One Product, One Livestream" initiative, with some industrial enterprises like Hebei Wanli Special Vehicle Manufacturing adopting AI digital human livestreaming to reduce costs and to showcase their products from the factory floor. This includes the broader "cluster going overseas" initiative in Hebei, where digital humans are used for 24/7 multilingual livestreams to help industrial manufacturers gain global visibility, with companies like Shanghe National Digital Economy Industrial Demonstration Park building shared livestream platforms. In Inner Mongolia, at a digital skills training session in Ningcheng County, attendees used tools including Jianying to create digital human broadcasts. Guizhou Science City hosted an entrepreneurship event where the project "Kun's AI Master Brain Digital Human" was presented, focusing on virtual digital humans for live e-commerce and cultural tourism. A company named Shanxi Wenshu Zhihui Culture Technology Co., Ltd. (山西文枢智绘文化科技有限公司), which is an enterprise specializing in AI comics and IP operations, signed a school-enterprise cooperation agreement with Shanxi Xinhua Computer School to establish an "AI + Film, TV and Animation Design" oriented class, which involves teaching digital human production.

08 July News

Entertainment: At the 2026 Global Digital Economy Conference in Beijing's Chaoyang District, the "Global Cities Digital Friendly MarsX Concert" was held at the National Speed Skating Oval (Ice Ribbon) on July 4, featuring China's first highly realistic digital human "Xingxing" performing via holographic technology alongside real singers Zhang Baizhi, Meng Tingwei, Xu Huaiyu, and Shan Yichun, with virtual and real performances alternating on stage to blur boundaries between the two. The concert integrated AI multi-nation torch relay ceremonies, "twin Earth" virtual-real stage design, the Ice Ribbon dome "Twelve Flower Gods" light sphere, and a panoramic digital "second venue" through the MarsX platform for global audiences. Separately, at Bilibili World 2026, Jingdong's AI digital human girl group Shier Ji (the Twelve Celestials) made their first full offline appearance together, with brand-limited merchandise distributed on-site and coordinated online livestream interactions. Display brand EVNIA Yiwei also featured its brand virtual character Yitianshu (弈天使) at BW2026 for full-day on-site interaction and photo opportunities with attendees. In Hangzhou's Yuhang district, a "New Trends, New Performing Arts" industry event deployed support from Alipay's scan-to-generate exclusive audience digital avatar feature and an AI real-time narrative experience powered by a system that analyzed audience micro-expressions and voice keywords to dynamically generate story branches.

Marketing: Infant formula brand Ou'enbei (欧恩贝) launched its "AI Aquan" (AI阿全) campaign in May 2026, in which the brand's general manager appeared in a promotional film alongside his own AI avatar named Aquan, which was built as an intelligent agent accessible via the Doubao platform by scanning a QR code; the avatar carries twenty-plus years of infant formula industry knowledge and provides mothers with personalized formula selection advice based on the brand's comprehensive formulation philosophy. The campaign extended to nationwide offline trial events and an in-can QR code lottery mechanic. Insurance company Dongfang Jiiafu Life (东方嘉富人寿) incorporated its proprietary digital human IP character into short-form science education videos depicting real business scenarios such as underwriting and claims. Shenzhen-based Gezhensi (歌力思) fashion company previously introduced its virtual character ELISA, targeting Z-generation consumers to build emotional connection. Lanying AI technology company's blue-label Zhibo virtual livestream system, marketed under brand Lanseguangbiao (蓝色光标), provides brands with virtual spokesperson, AI livestream, and multilingual digital human customer service solutions. Silicon-based Intelligence (硅基智能) operates a digital human livestream platform and video generation SaaS tool covering e-commerce live selling, short video marketing, and product introduction scenarios with a library of characters spanning multiple nationalities, ages, and professions.

E-commerce and Livestream: Zhongyouai Digital Marketing Group (通通AI社交集团), selected as an official livestream partner for the 2026 China Internet Conference held in Beijing, operates its AI idol companion platform Oupao Pao (偶像泡泡) and an AI digital human service under its 628 Ecosystem Carnival, which ran concurrently with the conference. Tianyu Shu (天娱数科) derives over 98 percent of its revenue from AI marketing, with its proprietary advertising large model specializing in AIGC materials, intelligent delivery, and AI virtual human livestream; AI livestream interaction accounts for more than 82 percent of its activity, serving multi-sector brand clients. Toudian (天威视讯 Tianwei Shixun) developed an AI voice digital human and smart customer service system integrated with its IPTV set-top box and OTT terminals, combining large language and multimodal models for real-time interaction. Wuxian Chuanmei (无线传媒) developed a digital human interactive system including 3D character modeling, hairstyle and costume design, skeleton motion binding, and interactive scene development, integrating large language and multimodal AI to enable the digital human to operate seamlessly across IPTV, smart TV OS, and OTT applications. At the Gansu Province Fifth Live E-commerce Competition finals in Lanzhou, the exclusive AI digital presenter Long Xiaoshang (陇小商) took the stage to interact with the audience and led discussions on digital human livestreaming, AI short video creation, and the future of e-commerce, functioning as a brand ambassador for Gansu's agricultural produce promotion initiative. At a Zhongyi Media (中视传媒) subsidiary, the virtual character "Xiao Ba" was created using 3D animation technology by Zhongshi Beifang.

Education and Public Services: Beijing Yuquan Primary School in Haidian District opened its "Zhiquan" AI laboratory on July 6, featuring a dialogue digital human character designed according to the school's own IP mascots "Yuyu" and "Quanquan" as a friendly interactive interface for students first encountering AI. The lab was built on the Tongyupingtai (通育平台) developed by Beijing General AI Research Institute with course design by a Peking University education team. In Wuxi, Jiangsu Province, the city's digital welfare platform deployed an intelligent digital human named Fubao (福宝) for human-machine collaborative review in social assistance applications, compressing the approval timeline from 65 working days to 25. The Shandong Provincial Committee's "Xinxin Xiang Dang" integrated services platform operates a digital human named Lu Xiaoxin (鲁小新), which delivered a multi-episode policy explanation series for new-employment groups covering topics such as ride-hailing driver licensing. Xuzhou Medical University's pharmacy team introduced an AI digital human presenter during a community health science outreach event in Xuzhou's Yunlong district to deliver drug safety education in an engaging digital format. The Tongyupingtai system also supports interactive cloud laboratory sessions tailored to individual courses, with the digital human appearing as a classroom education tool across AI literacy, innovation, and advanced talent tracks.

Healthcare: Yunzhisheng (云知声) had its Shouya intelligent agent platform (兽牙智能体平台) selected as a national typical AI application case by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, with the platform's proprietary multimodal emotional digital human technology receiving an "internationally leading" appraisal. The platform is deployed across smart healthcare, smart government services, rail transit, intelligent cockpit, and financial health insurance sectors. Zhejiang's digital accessibility initiative for elderly and disabled populations includes deployment of a digital human interface for service halls, though early trials revealed deficiencies in sign language recognition accuracy for hearing-impaired users submitting residency disability certificate applications. Hunan Broadcasting Television Station in partnership with the Hubei Provincial Medical Association produced "AI le, Da Yisheng" (AI了，大医生), China's first AI-plus-medicine full-media health science program, which premiered on Hubei Satellite Television on July 9; the program integrates XR, AR, CG visualization techniques including digital human replication and three-dimensional human anatomy modeling, and features an embodied robot named Chu Xiaojian (楚小健) that scans health trending topics in real time. Ningbo Xingbouyuan Intelligent Technology (宁波兴博元智能技术有限公司) filed a patent for a biomedical intelligent product demonstration agent system that uses a virtual digital human combined with three-dimensional dynamic demonstration to simulate drug-receptor binding in a virtual laboratory to improve user interaction in life science education.

Cultural and Tourism: Cloud Family Technology (云家族（浙江）科技有限公司), ranked first in the 2026 AI digital human enterprise services comprehensive capability ranking and recognized as a Hangzhou first-tier metaverse enterprise, developed over twenty commercially deployed digital human IP characters for tourism and government sectors, including Binkeer (滨可儿) as the Shangcheng cultural tourism ambassador, Yangwawa (阳瓦瓦) representing Song Dynasty cultural heritage, Aoqinzai (澳琴仔) as the Greater Bay Area mascot, and Xiaoxun (小巽) jointly created with Moutai Group's Xunfeng Technology (巽风科技). The West Lake Window AI tourism service station operated by Cloud Family serves over ten thousand visitors per day and won 2026 top ranking for its full-stack deployment. The AI Liu Bowen Creative Competition in Wencheng, Zhejiang Province includes a dedicated digital human design track inviting creators to design a digital human likeness of the historical figure Liu Bowen, with required submissions including three-view character diagrams, situational costume illustrations, and a demonstration video, with the gold prize carrying a 10,000 yuan cash award and a lifetime free-entry pass to Liubowen's hometown scenic area. Zhejiang TV's virtual host Gu Xiaoyu (谷小雨) participated in a visit to Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (Guangzhou) for an immersive digital art exhibition, showcasing virtual-physical coexistence experience. Taiwan's STUDIO A collaborated with Zukunft Works (未來製作所) on a virtual human interactive experience using virtual broadcast software combined with lightweight motion capture at an Apple Classic Exhibition in Taipei's Da'an District. Taiwan's Taiwan Mobile (台灣大哥大) MyMoji service was deployed at the 2026 Taitung Expo to create personalized 3D "Taitung Digital Traveler" AI avatars for visitors, expanding from daily entertainment scenes to tourism experience applications.

Sports Technology: Chinese company Lenovo Group, as FIFA's official technology partner for the 2026 World Cup, built a 3D digital human visualization system covering all 1,263 registered players across the tournament, establishing individualized digital models that reconstruct player body posture, movement trajectories, and spatial relationships in three-dimensional animation to provide transparent visualization of offside and contact decisions; the system has been deployed in all matches. Separately, the 2026 tournament's broadcaster-facing technology included 3D digital replicas of all 1,248 players built to produce multi-angle animated replays within 3 seconds for VAR review, with related AI referee assistance described in Chinese sports reporting as part of a broader AI refereeing infrastructure at the tournament.

Industrial Applications and Infrastructure: Shanghai Fengyu Zhu Cultural Technology (上海风语筑文化科技股份有限公司) operates digital virtual human services powered by Baidu's Wenxin Yiyan large model, providing AI-driven multimodal interactive digital human tour guides for online metaverse spaces and dialogue-interactive digital humans for offline immersive VR and AR scenarios. The Tonghua Shunying AI open platform (同花顺AI开放平台) offers digital virtual human products alongside short video generation, intelligent financial Q&A, and smart government platform solutions. Nanjing Haihui Equipment Technology (南京海汇装备科技有限公司) filed a patent for a selfie drone-based intelligent target recognition system that generates a dynamic digital avatar and static scene background from aerial image sequences, enabling virtual camera angle rendering for automated video production. Shenzhen Zhicheng Software (深圳市智城软件技术服务有限公司) was granted a patent for a virtual human animation generation method, apparatus, and storage medium applied for in January 2026. Zhejiang Wenxin (浙文互联) is actively developing digital virtual human, AIGC, automotive metaverse, and cultural tourism metaverse business tracks as part of its digital culture business strategy. The Qingdao AIGC and OPC (one-person company) industrial base, jointly established by Qingdao Shinan District government and Qingdao Broadcasting Television, operates the Qingying QingDrama platform with exclusive access to the Seedance 2.0 large model, providing digital human synthesis, intelligent rendering, and manga storyboard production to over 750 teams, and has produced award-winning AI short films including one that won two prizes at the 16th Beijing International Film Festival's AIGC unit. Guangxi's Guangxi Publishing and Media Group (广西出版传媒集团) launched the FLYTOTO Feitututu AI short drama co-creation platform in Nanning on July 6, powered by Volcengine Seedance 2.0, offering AI script adaptation, intelligent film production, multilingual translation, and digital human production for a full-chain matrix targeting the China-ASEAN market with content covering Chinese-style, suspense, and realist genres. The Hangzhou Shangcheng AIGC audio-visual industrial park opened on July 6, with its full industry chain encompassing content creation, production, editing, and digital human livestream operations, hosting companies including Huoshan Engine (火山引擎) and Shiduo Rui'an (世哆睿安).

Governance and Regulation: China's Cyberspace Administration published the Interim Measures for the Management of Anthropomorphic Interactive Services by Artificial Intelligence (人工智能拟人化互动服务管理暂行办法), effective July 15, 2026, prompting Bytedance's Doubao (豆包) to announce closure of user-created AI companion agent functions, Alibaba's Tongyi Qianwen (通义千问) to issue similar notices, and Tencent's Yuanbao (元宝) and other major platforms to take corresponding compliance action; the regulation prohibits content that induces extreme emotions or unhealthy emotional dependency in minors, bans use of sensitive user conversation data for future model training, and prohibits virtual partner or virtual family relationship services for underage users. Soul App (Soul张璐团队), China's AI social platform, formally established a dedicated Artificial Intelligence Ethics and Governance Committee on June 23, comprising internal leaders and seven categories of external specialists including internet governance, ethics, sociology, youth studies, and law scholars; the committee oversees SoulX-based dual-layer content review encompassing pre-model input screening and post-generation output verification with contextual semantic analysis, maintains a mandatory AI generation disclosure label across all virtual character interaction interfaces, bans virtual human services for minors, and launched a continuous interaction time-reminder feature capping AI companion sessions at two hours before prompting real-world reconnection. China's National Cyberspace Administration also issued revised draft measures on Internet information service management with a dedicated section on intelligent information services to regulate AI-generated content, and the 2025 AI Generated Content Labeling Measures remained active, requiring AI content to identify itself. The Chinese Academy of Sciences-linked China Inspection and Testing Holdings subsidiary Jiantianjian (中检天帷) launched a high-quality dataset inspection and testing base in Beijing focusing on safety evaluation of AI general models, vertical models, intelligent agents, and digital humans. AI voice cloning misuse was the subject of regulatory and legal attention after a Beijing Internet Court awarded 250,000 yuan to a plaintiff in China's first AI voice infringement case, while configuring industry actors including voice actors Bian Jiang, Zhang Lei, Ji Guanlin, and Zhang Jiaming, who collectively called out unauthorized AI voice sampling that reduced a veteran voice actor's income to one-fifth of its peak.

AI Companion and Social Platforms: Soul App (Soul), China's leading AI social platform, deployed its SoulX large model across virtual companion, full-duplex voice dialogue, and AI podcast scenarios, and in 2026 continued releasing open-source models related to real-time digital humans and voice interaction on GitHub, where its SoulX-Podcast model reached the top of HuggingFace's global TTS trending chart upon release. The platform's self-described mission is "let no one be lonely," with AI companion features providing emotional support to young users while the ethics committee actively manages boundaries to prevent unhealthy dependency. Bytedance's Doubao and Alibaba's Tongyi Qianwen both offered user-customizable AI companion agent functions allowing users to create virtual partners and personas, including virtual boyfriend or girlfriend characters and simulated celebrity clones, before compliance withdrawal ahead of the July 15 regulatory deadline. Kaiyingnetwork (恺英网络) released two AI-native social and companionship applications: EVE, which uses multimodal AI to fulfill user companionship needs and reached number four on the Diandian free chart following its April launch, and Elys, positioned as a next-generation social network that reconstructs social interaction logic through AI avatar technology. Shengshukejia (生数科技) released the Vidu S1 real-time interactive model at the 2026 Global Digital Economy Conference, supporting real-time video calling and voice-controlled video narrative; the model allows users to control a digital human's behavior via voice, enables unlimited-duration continuous interaction, supports creation of exclusive interactive characters from any initial form including real people, anime, and pets, and delivers 540P resolution at 25 FPS.

07 July News

Entertainment: The Chinese AI short-drama market experienced explosive growth in 2026, with first-quarter figures showing 12.8 million new titles of which AI-assisted productions accounted for 95 percent, according to China Central Television financial data. Yaoke (耀客传媒), one of China's six major drama production companies, signed two digital-human leads, Qin Lingyue and Lin Xiyan, for the AI drama "Qinling Bronze Mystery Records" and opened social media accounts in their names, though the project underperformed on release. Production house Shanhai Xingchen launched AI drama "Shocking! I Have a Child with My Arch-Enemy," whose synthesized characters Wen Yu and Qi You attracted genuine fan communities and were cast again in a second title "Clover Law: My Flash-Marriage Partner Is My Child's Father," with followers treating them as real recurring performers. AI fantasy drama "Ten Thousand Demon Chronicles" reached its seventh season in 2026, with an eighth season imminent. Lehua Entertainment's new girl group HeyDream, described as "Asia's first AI-driven real-person girl group," collaborated with Huolong Manga Drama on "My Identity Is Hidden: The Top Girl Group Is Actually a Demon Hunter." Producer Yu Zheng worked with ByteDance's Jimeng AI (即梦AI) to produce AI experimental dramas in which real performers provided performances later processed by AI. TVB actor Wu Qihua signed a formal contract authorising use of his likeness to recreate his appearance at age twenty for an AI film, with no on-set participation required. Performer game (游本昌) similarly cooperated with a short-drama platform to release the AI short drama "Ji Gong: The Counterfeit Dragon Tamer," using a youthful digital likeness timed to the fortieth anniversary of the original "Ji Gong" broadcast. Short-drama company Yuxiao (聿潇传媒) established an "artist digital-avatar exclusive studio" model, announcing six AI performers including internet celebrities Han Anran and Xu Zhibin. Short-drama lead performers Chen Tianxiang and Zhang Jinyi licensed their likenesses to writer Rao Xuelan's AI drama adaptation "Left Ear." Guangxi Publishing and Media Group (广西出版传媒集团) launched the FLYTOTO (飞兔兔) AI short-drama co-creation platform in Nanning, the first in China's publishing industry to integrate ByteDance's Volcano Engine Seedance 2.0 video-generation model; the platform covers AI script adaptation, intelligent film production, multilingual translation, digital-human production, and competition operations, with production costs at one-tenth of live-action equivalents, and it is tied to the eighth China-ASEAN Audio-Visual Week and the 2026 China-ASEAN Micro Short-Drama Competition. Wan Xingjing (万兴剧厂), a subsidiary of Wanxing Technology (万兴科技), explored a model combining human actors with AI, including having performers serve as motion-capture operators for digital avatars.

Marketing: Jingye Group (敬业集团), a Hebei steel manufacturer, deployed a digital-human streamer named "Pipi" across multiple video channels including WeChat Video Account, Douyin, and Kuaishou, enabling 24-hour uninterrupted livestreaming across a matrix of 200 accounts. The digital human automatically answers frequently asked questions, allowing business staff to follow up with customers in real time. From January to May 2026 the group achieved online cumulative sales of 300 million yuan, a year-on-year increase of 331.5 percent. Xinhua Insurance (新华保险) deployed a proprietary AI digital-human image as the carrier for insurance-knowledge promotional content during the 2026 National Insurance Public Awareness Day activities, and also produced micro-drama series using AI creative tools. Guomai Culture (国脉文化, 新国脉数字文化股份有限公司) introduced virtual digital-human brand ambassadors named Ailin Irene and Xiaoling, modelled on the company's general manager and employee representatives, to promote corporate image and business updates across digital channels. Forest Horse (森马服饰) disclosed that multiple of its brands were running digital-human livestreams on Taobao and other e-commerce platforms during time slots that complement human presenters. Senmiao (森马服饰) board secretary confirmed the company uses digital-human hosts in specific broadcast windows. Lingxi Shenzhi (灵犀深智) released the AI livestream tool Zhubo Xia LiveClaw (助播虾LiveClaw), which supports virtual digital-human co-streaming and has created dedicated virtual streamer avatars for brands including Borui Beauty (柏瑞美) and Frozen (冰雪奇缘); the platform logs more than 30,000 hours of daily service. The Nanhu Street Chamber of Commerce (南湖街商会) in Hubei, working with subsidiary Hubei Yiming Technology (湖北益鸣科技), held a closed-door exchange on AI digital-human film and television mass production and enterprise digitalization, covering OPC digital-human custom development and XR immersive livestreaming services for member businesses.

Healthcare: Ping An Life Insurance (平安人寿) deployed virtual digital-human interactive case-reporting functionality within its Ping An Jinguan Jia App for the insurance claims process, enabling an interactive-reporting mode in which a virtual digital human guides customers through submission of claim materials; in 2025 this AI system replaced more than 30 percent of manual processes and achieved 93 percent of cases completing review within 60 seconds. Guanwei Intelligent Technology Beijing (观薇智能科技(北京)有限公司) demonstrated at the 2026 Global Digital Economy Conference a smart health-detection instrument guided by a digital human displayed on a large screen, which directs users through facial and ocular examination to generate a traditional Chinese medicine face-diagnosis and eye-diagnosis health report; the device supports more than ten language versions including English, Korean, Russian, and Thai, enabling international deployment. Hong Song Group (红松集团) introduced "Digit Human Teachers" (数字人老师) through its AI learning-assistant system into a strategic cooperation with Chaoyang District Workers' University to provide round-the-clock personalised learning guidance and emotional companionship for elderly users, announced at the 2026 Global Digital Economy Conference Smart Health-Care Industry Development Forum.

Cultural: Changling (昌小明), a holographic virtual digital human, served as guide and interactive presence during the opening ceremony of the 2026 Ming Culture Forum at the Ming Tombs scenic area in Changping, Beijing, appearing in an AI immersive short film and then leading an interactive holographic projection session titled "Changling — Chronicle of Ming Knowledge" in which the digital human engaged in dialogue with historical Ming-dynasty figures and exhibition artefacts. The Beijing Times Art Museum hosted "Long Time No See, Great Poets," a national-style poetry and art exhibition running from July 3 to September 13, 2026, featuring digital-human situational short dramas for Li Bai, Du Fu, and Su Shi in which each poet's digital avatar emerged from static portrait paintings to narrate personal life episodes in immersive light-and-shadow environments. Huashu Group (华数集团) presented at the Hangzhou "New Technology, New Scenarios" practical matchmaking event a session on how digital humans combined with AI-generated content could inject new vitality into the "Poetic Zhejiang" cultural tourism brand. Sixiang Wuxian Zhejiang Company (思享无限浙江公司) shared applications of AI digital humans in cultural tourism, performing arts, and hotel industries at the same event. The Malan Mountain (马栏山) Video Cultural and Creative Industrial Park in Changsha deployed a digital human named "Xiao V," created by park engineers, as the full-session host and interactive guide for the "Malan Mountain Open Day" event held at the Liyard Malan Mountain virtual production base, with the programme leveraging AI scene construction, real-time digital-human interaction, and immersive audio-visual technology. Hunan Normal University's School of Journalism and Communication introduced an AI digital-human teaching assistant into its cross-cultural communication course to link thematic content, while another team at Hunan Information University introduced AI digital human "Xiao Xiang" into simulated dialogues exploring skilled manufacturing talent challenges. Hunan University of Arts and Science students created an interactive digital human named "Dong Sheng" for a red-culture education project, drawing inspiration from a Long March story involving a kerosene lamp. Yangtze Evening Post (扬子晚报) produced a ten-episode micro-documentary series using an AI virtual digital-human tour guide as a national first, combining AI painting techniques with physical filming to narrate red-culture relics in Jiangsu.

Enterprise: CCTV International Network Wuxi Co., Ltd. (央视国际网络无锡有限公司), a subsidiary of CCTV, was listed among four nationally recognised AI application cases in Wuxi High-Tech Zone for its Digital Human Factory (数字人工厂), which uses AI technology to connect digital-human creation, operational promotion, and commercial monetisation in a full-chain closed-loop serving government affairs, media, and cultural tourism industries. Tong Tong AI Social Group (通通AI社交集团) updated its Tong Tong platform to place AI digital-human functionality prominently, allowing users to select preferred avatars as intelligent assistants or upload photographs to generate personal digital avatars that can answer platform questions, assist with content creation, and handle daily requests; the group's Guomei New Entertainment (国美新娱乐) subsidiary provides an AI idol co-creation platform covering AI film, AI concerts, and AI digital cultural tourism. Red Song Group (红松集团) at the 2026 Global Digital Economy Conference released "Red Pine Time Diary" (红松时光日记), an AI lifestyle-recording product for elderly users in which a digital human assists with content creation from photographs or voice input. Lingban Technology (灵伴科技) deployed AR glasses as embodied intelligent hardware at the Zhejiang Intangible Cultural Heritage Museum under its "One-Lens Tour of Hangzhou" initiative, combining physical devices with virtual-being guidance. JoyAI App, operated by JD.com (京东), launched a UGC digital-human function allowing users to upload a single photograph to generate a personalised digital avatar with customised voice and appearance, supported by a full-duplex conversational architecture integrating language, voice, and digital-human large models; the avatar can assist with food delivery, financial information, English practice, and travel planning. Xinhua Bao Group's Yangtze Evening Post committed to iterating its Zijiu News client with metaverse, virtual space, and digital-human technology, building an interactive intelligent agent, service agent, and scene agent architecture. Soul App (Soul应用) has deployed AI virtual companions since 2022 and by mid-2026 had 4.6 million daily active users engaging with AI features, approximately 40 percent of total daily active users; CTO Tao Ming described a design philosophy of simulating realistic rather than idealised human interaction patterns, including imperfect Mandarin pronunciation and willingness to argue with users, and explained that governance and effects teams are strictly separated with the governance team holding near-absolute authority on safety and ethics questions, including prohibiting AI companions from inviting users to meet offline. Dazhou Municipal Public Security Bureau in Sichuan dismantled a criminal operation in which suspects used AI to generate dynamic facial images for fraudulent business-licence registration and e-commerce shop setup, with seven suspects detained; separately, a suspect in Dazhou used AI software to synthesise virtual faces for bulk real-name registration of IoT SIM cards, accumulating and selling more than 13,000 such cards.

Ethical Contexts: Chinese regulator the National Radio and Television Administration's network audio-visual bureau issued classified layered management requirements for AI micro-short dramas in late June 2026, tying more stringent registration and review requirements to content sensitivity and investment scale, and Douyin's short-drama rights centre shifted its incentive programmes toward productions combining live-action filming with AI-assisted production rather than purely AI-generated content. China's Central Cyberspace Affairs Commission launched a "Clean Internet: Rectifying AI Application Chaos" campaign from April 2026, cumulatively handling more than 14,000 non-compliant AI products and clearing more than 6 million illegal items through early July, with the fourteen categories of reportable violations explicitly including "digital virtual human image misappropriation." Douyin e-commerce launched a Portrait Protection Function announced at a governance open day, building a rights-information archive for creators; by launch it had protected more than 180 top creators and proactively intercepted 92,000 infringing accounts and 180,000 infringing goods, with the platform having removed more than 360,000 AI-impersonation trending-topic videos and handled 85,000 items of AI portrait and voice infringement since April 2026. A Beijing internet court case involving actress Di Lieba (迪丽热巴) was cited as a landmark ruling, in which a Hangzhou media company was found liable for replacing the female lead's face with Di Lieba's AI-generated likeness in 44 episodes of an urban short drama, causing audiences to mistakenly believe she had participated; the court rejected the defence that the image was randomly AI-generated because the company could not reproduce its creation process. New Media Bright Star (慧播星), a digital-human production service, was credited in multiple Kankan News video reports on NetEase as the technology powering the news segments' on-screen presenter.

06 July News

Entertainment: On July 4, 2026, the MarsX Global Digital Friendly Cities Concert took place at the National Speed Skating Oval (冰丝带) in Beijing as part of the 2026 Global Digital Economy Conference series. The event featured Xingxing (星星), described as China's first highly photorealistic digital human, who performed on stage alongside real singers Zhang Bozhi, Shan Yichun, Meng Tingwei, and Xu Huaiyu. Notably, the Beijing Economic and Technological Development Zone had previously issued what was described as the country's first Digital Performer Card, bringing commercial performances by digital humans into a formal regulatory framework, and Xingxing's appearance at the venue was positioned as an important practical demonstration within that compliance structure. Also in the entertainment space, the 2026 Ming Culture Forum held at the Ming Tombs scenic area in Changping, Beijing, featured a holographic virtual digital human named Changxiaoming (昌小明) as the opening act, appearing in an AI immersive short film titled Changxiaoming Takes You to Explore Ming Culture, in which the character traversed Ming cultural landmarks including the Forbidden City, Gonghua City, Juyongguan, and the Ming Tombs. Changxiaoming subsequently appeared in a full holographic projection interactive segment titled Changxiaoming: Ming Dynasty Record of Knowledge and Action, in which the digital human interacted with cultural relics in the exhibition hall and engaged in a dialogue with Ming dynasty historical figures across six hundred years. The character was further highlighted by Tsinghua University professor Lu Zhou as an effective cultural tourism ambassador for Changping. The Jinghe Art Exhibition at Beijing Times Art Museum, running from July 3 to September 13, incorporated digital human scenario short dramas for the poets Li Bai, Du Fu, and Su Shi, in which digital human versions of the poets emerged from static portraits to narrate key moments of their lives. Shengshuke Digital Technology (南京八点八数字科技) released an AI short drama writing agent called AniShort that reached 300 million yuan in revenue within three months of launch and has supported nearly 50,000 short drama projects; the company also separately offers a digital human interactive product that has sold close to 100 million yuan since June 2024, with over 200 national partners. Singer Wang Leehom released what was described as the world's first interactive AI music film music video, Come What May, on May 20, in which fans could create personal AI avatars and enter the video as the female lead, appearing alongside Wang's virtual image in scenes set in ancient Rome, the Titanic, and other locations; the video generated over one million user-customized versions within three days of release. Hong Kong actor Wu Qihua signed a contract with an AI film production company authorizing use of his likeness at approximately age 20, with the production company planning to create a film featuring a digital avatar of his younger self as the male lead, with Wu providing only basic facial material collection in exchange for payment.

Cultural: The 2026 Ming Culture Forum at the Ming Tombs in Changping established Changxiaoming as a recurring digital human cultural ambassador, deployed across multiple formats: as an AI immersive opening film, as a full holographic projection interactive exhibit, and in video encounters with Beijing Broadcasting and Television host Wei Lin, during which Changxiaoming explained the significance of Ming dynasty robe dragon patterns and stone carvings. The character was formally described as a cultural tourism representative for Changping. At the Jingde Cultural Tourism Zone in Jingdezhen, Hong Kong media students participating in the 2026 Fan Changjiang Action visited the Taoyang Li Historic Cultural Tourism Area and accessed the Digital Jingdezhen mini-program through QR codes, which used augmented reality technology to recreate scenes from the historic porcelain capital and enabled visitors to engage in cross-temporal interactions with digital human figures. The program also offered a role-play feature allowing visitors to assume the identities of craftsmen, merchants, or officials, as well as a digital heritage guardian function in which participants conducted virtual site inspections and submitted digital patrol forms to receive recognition as heritage protectors. In Tongxiang, Zhejiang, a Mao Dun Digital Humanist Map was launched on July 4 to mark the 130th anniversary of author Mao Dun's birth, connecting 22 cultural landmarks across cities including Wuzhen, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Hong Kong, Guilin, Yan'an, and Beijing into an interactive digital narrative, accessible via mobile devices and as a permanent installation at the Mao Dun Memorial Hall. At the 2026 Global Digital Economy Conference AIGC for Future Forum in Beijing, a roundtable discussion focused on digital human applications in the context of revitalizing traditional Chinese brand culture, framing digital humans as tools for intergenerational cultural transmission and commercial modernization.

Sports: Lenovo Group (联想集团), as the official technology partner of the 2026 FIFA World Cup in the United States, Canada, and Mexico, deployed a three-dimensional digital human visualization system that created high-fidelity 3D virtual images of more than 1,200 players at the tournament. These digital avatars were used to enhance the efficiency of refereeing decisions, particularly in offside determinations, with the system capable of generating 3D replay animations from any angle whenever a disputed incident occurred, and making the resulting visualizations available for fans to view on mobile devices via the FIFA+ application. Wang Lei, general manager of Lenovo China's sports and entertainment project department, confirmed that the same integrated AI sports solution, which also includes a football super-agent system analyzing over 2,000 performance indicators and an AI video enhancement system providing a referee's-eye-view perspective, has been simultaneously deployed in the Chinese Super League, where it underpins an industry-wide full-stack AI command center covering tactical analysis, real-time match scheduling, and post-match data review.

Governance and Regulation: China's first Digital Performer Card was issued by the Beijing Economic and Technological Development Zone in connection with the appearance of the digital human Xingxing at the National Speed Skating Oval, formally incorporating commercial performances by digital human characters into a regulatory compliance framework and establishing a precedent for the institutionalized development of digital entertainment as a new business category. The National Radio and Television Administration issued management guidance on June 25, 2026, titled Classification and Tiering Standards for AI Micro-Dramas, dividing AI-generated micro-dramas into three management tiers with investment thresholds, mandatory labeling of AI-generated content, prohibitions on unauthorized use of performer likenesses, and requirements for filing before broadcast; AI micro-dramas with investment of 80 million yuan or above are subject to the most stringent review as key micro-dramas. The China Broadcasting and Television Social Organization Federation's Performer Committee formally declared that any entity is prohibited from collecting, synthesizing, or using performer images and voice prints to produce AI dramas without written authorization, with infringers liable for damages and content takedowns. Platforms including Douyin (抖音), operated by ByteDance (字节跳动), launched a Portrait Protection Function that uses AI models to proactively intercept unauthorized use of registered performers' likenesses in e-commerce livestreaming contexts; by June 2026 the function had protected over 180 top-tier performers, proactively blocking 92,000 infringing accounts, 180,000 infringing products, and 260,000 infringing pieces of content. Kuaishou (快手) and Taobao Tmcat (淘宝天猫) implemented parallel AI-driven front-end interception systems targeting synthetic avatar fraud in commerce contexts. The Cyberspace Administration of China released a revised draft of the Measures for the Administration of Internet Information Services for public consultation, including a dedicated section on intelligent information services that specifically governs the use of artificial intelligence in internet content provision.

Livestreaming and Commerce: AI digital humans operating as virtual hosts have expanded substantially into Chinese livestreaming commerce and content production. In Ningbo's Haishu district, the OPC Cloud Creation Labo coworking space houses multiple one-person companies engaged in digital human agriculture livestreaming, with one team from Ningbo Shengchuang Lituo Electronic Technology (宁波晟创力拓电子科技有限公司), led by founder Zhang Zhiye, deploying digital humans to conduct automated 24-hour livestreaming on behalf of farmers who are unable or unwilling to appear on camera themselves; the digital human maintains the farmer's stable image and handles broadcast autonomously while the farmer focuses on cultivation and fulfillment. The Huibo Star (慧播星) digital human platform was used to produce news commentary video content across multiple topics distributed on NetEase and Sina platforms. An AI digital human also served as the host of the May 13 press conference for the 2026 China-Guangxi ASEAN Artificial Intelligence Plus Emergency Management Science and Technology Innovation Competition in Nanning. Multiple reports documented AI digital human eating show accounts conducting 24-hour streams consuming non-food items such as crystals, gold, and toys without incurring the bodily or regulatory risks faced by human food streamers, prompting discussion of regulatory sufficiency. Guangrong Group (广旅集团), the Guangxi tourism development conglomerate, confirmed that AI digital human and metaverse cultural tourism applications have been deployed at scale within its smart tourism platform, which has accumulated 41 million users, and identified AI digital humans as a central pillar of its planned expansion through 2030.

Technology and Products: Shengshuke Technology (生数科技), led by founder Zhu Jun, officially launched the Vidu S1 (维度S1) real-time interactive model at the 2026 Global Digital Economy Conference in Beijing. Vidu S1 is framed as the first model of its type to enable unlimited-duration real-time video generation for interactive digital human applications, supporting 540P resolution at 25 frames per second with a maximum of 42 frames per second, and operable on consumer-grade graphics cards through the TurboDiffusion inference acceleration framework and TurboServe deployment engine. The model enables users to create personalized digital characters by uploading a single image, including real portraits, anime characters, pets, or other visual identities, and then engage in real-time voice-driven conversation with the resulting character, which generates facial expressions, lip synchronization, gestures, and full-body movements in response to spoken instructions rather than drawing from a fixed motion library. The system also supports environmental awareness through camera-based scene recognition. Huzhou Hepin Network Technology (湖州合品网络科技有限公司) filed a patent for a smart packaging digital human multimodal interaction system triggered by NFC, which activates a digital human model and augmented reality environment when a user's device approaches a product package, with the system delivering audio-driven facial animation and interaction in under 2.7 seconds. Zhongyi Technology (广州市中熠科技有限公司), a Guangzhou-based display technology company, produces holographic fan digital human displays supporting 1080P holographic animation playback and 3D brand IP presentations for commercial showrooms, retail stores, and trade fair environments, using dynamic light field reconstruction algorithms and supported by the Zhongyi Feipingv1.0 content management software. Hong Kong University of Science and Technology professor Luo Wenhan presented a systematic review of digital human technology and its evolution at the university's Entrepreneur Science and Technology Scholar program, identifying the key trend of reducing the input burden required to create a functional digital human, from long video input to a single photo plus audio, to a single identity code, and ultimately to simultaneous audio-visual output without pre-recorded audio. Shanghai Yinghe Medical AI company (上海影禾医脉智能科技有限公司) described a vision of medical AI evolving toward a medical digital twin for patients, framing AI-based imaging analysis as a progression from tool use to full workflow integration, though this application does not constitute a virtual being in the defined sense and is therefore noted only for its use of the digital twin terminology in a Chinese medical context.

Ethical Contexts: The displacement of human actors by AI-generated digital human performers in China's short drama industry reached significant scale by early 2026, with AI dramas comprising approximately 95 percent of the roughly 128,000 short dramas released in the first quarter of the year, against a backdrop of a 75 percent year-on-year decline in live-action short drama production starts at Hengdian and similar production bases. Actor Xu Mengqiang, aged 32, became a representative figure of this disruption after losing all his drama contracts and turning to selling cold noodles at a night market in Hengdian for a maximum daily revenue of 200 yuan; similar cases were documented among actors Zhang Xiaolei, who returned to grow vegetables, and Xu Peng, a Central Academy of Drama graduate who returned to sell produce in Shandong. Industry data cited training programs in digital human motion capture, AI script creation, and AI video editing as transitional pathways for displaced performers, with over 1,200 actors reported to have received such training by July 2026. Separately, voice actor Shen Anyu documented the unauthorized cloning of his voice through AI, which resulted in his AI-generated voice being sold as cheap commercial products across online platforms, his real-voice content being suppressed by platform algorithms that flagged it as AI-generated, and a severe income reduction. Voice actors Zhang Jiaming, Ji Guanlin, and others collectively issued a statement prohibiting unauthorized collection and AI synthesis of their voices; Beijing's first AI false advertising case involved an AI-synthesized likeness of CCTV anchor Li Zimeng used to promote fish oil products, resulting in a 200,000 yuan fine. Douyin's Portrait Protection Function was introduced specifically to counter the AI synthesis of celebrity and influencer likenesses for unauthorized commercial purposes. The emergence of software allowing the sale of single-use synthesized voice packages for as little as one cent was cited as evidence of a structural breakdown in protections for voice performers as a professional class in China.

05 July News

Tourism: In Xinjiang, the Ninth China-Eurasia Expo cultural tourism zone deployed two Unitree (宇树) humanoid robots dressed in Aidelais silk to perform the Heizouma dance alongside live performers from the Qianhuixiyu theatrical production, becoming one of the most popular attractions at the expo. At Kanas scenic area, the intelligent traffic police robot Ka Xiao An and the security patrol quadruped robot Ka Xiao Hu were formally introduced: Ka Xiao An supports autonomous line-following, intelligent point switching, vehicle flow recognition, and real-time voice broadcast, and can also function as an intelligent tour guide directing visitors to optimal routes and parking, while Ka Xiao Hu patrols forested trails and blind spots inaccessible to human officers. At Atush Tianmen scenic area, a highland intelligent robot mountain-climbing challenge was launched, billed as the first high-altitude canyon intelligent robot climbing event in China, with the technical team developing optimized robots for the thin-air, rugged terrain environment. At the Yili Huanle Carnival Smart Cultural Tourism City, which opened on June 18 with a total investment of six billion yuan, seven immersive metaverse experience halls were simultaneously opened, covering Xinjiang historical stories and science-fiction themes, and featuring technologies including AI digital interactive installations, holographic performances, and smart navigation, enabling visitors to interact with virtual scenes. The Xinjiang Institute of Technology's Silk Road Aesthetic Education metaverse digital human was selected as a national-level metaverse typical digital human case. At the Ikezhao General's Mansion, a digital docent modeled as a Qing-era general through high-precision 3D modeling can narrate frontier history and conduct interactive question-and-answer sessions with visitors; the Wang Meng Literary Digital Experience Hall similarly employs an intelligent digital human to transform the author's Xinjiang stories into an audible and immersive digital experience. The Yushu Driving Xinjiang program planned a network of AI self-driving stations incorporating AI digital human multilingual navigation as one of its eight integrated functions, with ten demonstration stations planned for 2026. The Yujian Xinjiang platform, formally launched at the 2026 National State-owned Cultural Tourism Group Digital Intelligence Innovation Exchange Conference in Hotan, integrates AI itinerary customization, intelligent companion services, and more than twenty digital services including AI navigation and online booking. In Kashi Ancient City, augmented reality scene recognition technology allows visitors pointing their phones at Uyghur traditional instruments and handicrafts to retrieve 3D models and dynamic demonstrations. The Encounter Duku XR large-space project, announced on April 10 and opened in June in Dushanzi District of Karamay, is described as the first XR large-space product in China themed around a road exploration experience; using space computing and LBE technology integrated with VR, AR, and MR, it delivers a 25-minute immersive experience in which participants accompany virtual characters Ayina and the golden eagle Xiao Kunlun on a patrol of the Duku Highway. In Minfen County, the global large-format Niya Ruins immersive digital exhibition integrates 360-degree panoramic immersion, XR temporal travel, VR simulated archaeology, and AIGC intelligent interaction across eight themed halls.

Cultural: At the 2026 Ming Culture Forum held on July 4 and 5 at the Ming Tombs scenic area in Beijing's Changping district, the holographic AI virtual human Changxiaoming made its debut, using digital technology to recreate Ming-dynasty street culture. In Hubei, Yidian Zixun (一点资讯) Hubei launched Hubei's first provincial-level cultural tourism virtual digital human Hu Beiier in February 2023 in collaboration with the Hubei Provincial Department of Culture and Tourism; the character features a hyper-realistic appearance and AI interactive capability. Hu Beiier 2.0 debuted as a virtual host at the Hubei Provincial AI Technology Exhibition in December 2023, and by 2024 the series Hu Beiier Takes You to Discover Hubei was incorporated into a key online publicity project by the Hubei Cyberspace Administration, with the character subsequently appearing in promotional activities for Wuhan, Shiyan, Enshi, Huangshi, and Xianning. For Yunxi County, Yidian Zixun Hubei created the Cowherd and Weaver Girl virtual digital couple, the first metaverse Cowherd and Weaver Girl virtual digital lovers combination in China, debuting at the 2023 Yunxi Tianhe Qixi Cultural Tourism Festival; using motion capture and AI interaction, audiences could interact with the digital humans in real time through holographic cabinets to learn about local food, scenery, and products. The company also produced the Shiyan cultural tourism virtual digital spokesperson Yanqinger, and a series of AI promotional videos, some of which won provincial and national awards. At the Beijing Time Arts Museum, the exhibition Greetings, Great Poets incorporates digital human short dramas featuring Li Bai, Du Fu, and Su Shi, in which the poets emerge from static portraits to narrate personal life episodes in light and shadow. In Shanghai's Zhangjiang district, the event AI: Original Heart opened with the AI digital human Zhangxiaojiang performing in the digital dance drama, traversing a century of scientific history using advanced digital visuals combined with modern dance. At Shenzhen's Jinxiu Zhonghua theme park, the park partnered with Bangyan Technology (邦彦技术) to create the holographic digital human IP troupe Jinxiu Tuantuan, whose four characters, each named after a character in the park's name, performed in air drum interactions and talent competitions, integrating ethnic cultural elements with digital science and technology. At the Gansu Huaining Red Army Long March Victory Memorial Museum, China Telecom deployed an AI digital human-driven intelligent voice guide that operates around the clock; visitors approaching any exhibit automatically trigger audio narration about the item's revolutionary history, replacing traditional fixed-point human guides. At Zhengzhou's Shifo Water Plant, Weipager (威派格) constructed an AI digital human that adopts a dual reception-and-management role: internally it automatically analyzes process parameters and assesses operational health, while externally it serves as an AI receptionist named Huang Xiaoyu for intelligent explanation and interactive hospitality.

Entertainment: Hunan Satellite Television's The Singer 2026, broadcast live every Friday from May 22, explored AI-human hybrid performance in its May 30 Youth Xiangtan Concert by creating AI avatars for eleven singers, achieving cross-dimensional interaction through a combination of real performers and virtual doubles, described as an early exploration for the planned new program Phantom Singer. Bytedance's Doubao (豆包) platform announced that its AI companion agent function would be taken offline on July 15, 2026 in compliance with the Interim Measures for the Administration of Artificial Intelligence Anthropomorphic Interactive Services taking effect that date; users reported long-term emotional bonds with their customized virtual companions, and the announcement triggered a significant public reaction on social platforms. Alibaba's Qianwen (千问) platform similarly announced that anthropomorphic interactive agents would go offline on July 10 and all agents by July 15. Shengshuke (生数科技) formally released Vidu S1 at the 2026 Global Digital Economy Conference, describing it as the first real-time interactive video large model: users can conduct voice conversations with AI characters that synchronize lip movement, micro-expressions, and physical gestures in real time at latencies below 0.3 seconds; the system supports indefinite dialogue duration while maintaining character consistency, can generate a digital human from a single uploaded image within three seconds, includes voice cloning from a ten-second recording, and runs on consumer-grade GPUs such as the RTX 4060.

Marketing: Jingdong (JD.com) MALL signed into Nanjing Jinsheng International Home Furnishings on July 3, with digital human livestreaming listed among the core innovative scenarios being introduced to drive the transformation of the traditional home furnishings retail space. At the Bay Area Industry Accelerator launch in Zhuhai on July 2 and 3, Zhuhai Yunyou Juexiao Technology (珠海云途觉晓科技有限公司) signed a cooperation agreement with Zhuhai Science and Technology Industry Group's Science and Innovation Industrial Park for the construction of a brand digital human, and the event featured among participating companies Ciyuan Shenshen (词元神) Technology of Beijing, which focuses on digital human generation and AI music production. At the 2026 Global Digital Economy Conference in Beijing, Beijing Future Chaotu Technology (北京未来潮汐科技有限公司) founder Liu Yefei announced the launch of an AI digital employee engineering delivery platform capable of building proprietary digital employees for small and medium enterprises and creating digital avatars for experts. Ping An Property Insurance Chongqing Branch introduced an original AI digital human called Insurance Encyclopedia for its 7.8 National Insurance Public Awareness Day activities, embedding the character in fire-prevention and claims-service scenarios for immersive knowledge dissemination. China Zhonghua Property Insurance Hunan Branch likewise used AI digital human short videos as a digital platform for insurance science popularization.

Enterprise: Diangjin (点金) released its BankerOne digital avatar workstation for bank credit managers, assigning each frontline business employee a dedicated digital avatar that learns and refines itself through real work interactions; the avatar automatically completes customer archiving and enterprise profiling upon receiving client information, generates pre-visit briefs, arranges joint visit invitations, captures voice field notes and converts them into structured records, drafts due diligence reports using accumulated context, and checks completeness of credit materials, with the entire architecture running on financial cloud infrastructure and supporting zero-invasive integration with existing bank systems. Jingdong's digital human cumulative service to merchants exceeded seventy thousand in the first quarter of 2026, with year-on-year growth in digital human broadcast volume of ten times, and head merchants' digital human broadcast rate reaching eighty percent, according to cited data on AI livestreaming trends. Nanjing Badianba Digital Technology (南京八点八数字科技) developed AniShort, an AI short-drama writing agent covering scriptwriting, character extraction, storyboard production, and audio output in a conversational workflow; the product achieved revenue of over three million yuan in three months, with nearly fifty thousand drama projects and over twenty thousand registered users as of June 13. Shenzhen Mengshu Century Technology (深圳市猛犸世纪科技有限公司), also known as Mengshu AI, a company founded in 2013 in Shenzhen's Nanshan district, operates product lines covering a GEO optimization system, an AI business growth system, the MMAI Studio intelligent agent factory, AI digital humans, short-video matrix services, and multilingual overseas AI marketing, cumulatively serving over two thousand enterprise clients. Aima Technology (爱玛科技) partnered with Volcengine and Baidu Intelligent Cloud to build the AIGC unified portal Maxiao Ai, integrating digital human livestreaming, document analysis, and AI drawing capabilities, and upgraded the Aima Mobility App to include the Maxiao Ai intelligent agent. Shenzhen Huanying Weilai Information Technology (深圳幻影未来信息科技有限公司) applied for a patent for a split-screen cross-application data processing method incorporating a virtual digital human, in which the virtual human translates user voice commands into text, interacts with external software applications such as hospital registration kiosks, and delivers results back to the user through the virtual human interface.

Education: Zhejiang University of Traditional Chinese Medicine built multi-lineage famous physician digital humans and digital twin robots to digitally preserve and actively propagate the academic thinking, clinical reasoning, and characteristic techniques of senior Chinese medicine physicians, enabling many students to learn simultaneously from multiple preserved masters. The university also launched its Xuanqi Wenda Chinese medicine large model, which fully replicates the complete clinical process of observation, listening, inquiry, and pulse diagnosis, allowing students to conduct immersive clinical practice without a real ward. Hunan Normal University's journalism faculty introduced AI digital human teaching assistants in its cross-cultural communication courses, using them as thread-linking narrators for cross-cultural themes while keeping the human-to-human dialogue as the pedagogical core. Hunan Information College's automation faculty introduced an AI digital human called Xiaoxi to simulate dialogue and explore the talent recruitment and retention challenges facing the manufacturing sector in a classroom setting. Hubei-based Hua Rui Vision Point (深圳华锐视点) developed an AI smart teaching assistant system incorporating a one-on-one AI companion virtual human that enables students to ask questions and practice speaking without pressure, alongside personalized diagnostic and evaluation functions that identify weaknesses and push adaptive learning tasks in real time. Tencent released LearnBuddy on June 5, 2026, described as the first intelligent agent industry application focused on education, built on the same technical base as WorkBuddy; it provides AI course assistants, AI research assistants, AI competition partners, AI growth mentors, and campus service functions offering seven-day twenty-four-hour personalized learning support, and includes an expert avatar feature that integrates professors' published papers, lectures, private course materials, and annotated notes to form an AI avatar embodying the expert's methodological framework; Dalian University of Technology was among the first institutions to build an all-scenario AI learning companion platform based on LearnBuddy.

Healthcare: Shanghai Yinghe Medical Pulse Intelligent Technology (上海影禾医脉智能科技有限公司), also known as Yinghe Medical Pulse, presented at the medical health special forum of the 2026 Global Digital Economy Conference, describing its Xiaojun Doctor 2.0 cranial CT super-intelligent agent, developed jointly with Beijing Tiantan Hospital, as the world's first examination-item-level, all-disease-covering cranial CT intelligent diagnostic assistant; covering ninety-four cranial diseases, eleven anatomical sites, and 1,232 diagnostic terms, it generates a structured report from image input in one minute, with over ninety percent of routine cases requiring only minor physician modification. The system won the Industry Application Innovation Intelligent Agent award at the 2026 China AI Intelligent Agent Leader selection. Jiamusi City Traditional Chinese Medicine Hospital deployed an AI medical assistant system called Qi Huang Zhi Zhu in its WeChat official account, enabling it to provide intelligent triage, smart registration, report interpretation, skin condition analysis, medication analysis, and post-visit follow-up services to patients. Ping An Property Insurance Fujian Branch introduced an AI digital human in its network outlets to demonstrate disaster-avoidance skills and deliver insurance knowledge in the form of entertaining short videos themed around classical novels.

Ethical Contexts: Internet celebrity Han Annian attributed a video ranking female celebrities by cosmetic surgery level to her AI digital human, claiming it had published the content without her review due to a time zone difference while she was traveling in France; legal analysts noted that under Article 9 of the Interim Measures for the Administration of Generative AI Services, the person using AI to provide content to the public bears producer liability, making her acknowledgment that the AI digital human published without review an admission rather than an exculpation, and that the explanation likely strengthened rather than weakened the evidence of the relevant legal violations. The Interim Measures for the Administration of Artificial Intelligence Anthropomorphic Interactive Services, jointly issued by five departments including the Cyberspace Administration of China and effective July 15, 2026, prohibits providers from offering virtual relatives or virtual companion services to minors, requires two-hour usage reminders for all users, and mandates intervention when extreme emotional states are detected; critics argued the measures substituted categorical prohibition for the differentiated regulatory approach stated in the law's own principles, and that platform decisions to simply shut down rather than comply with the new rules caused acute distress to millions of users who had formed long-term emotional bonds with their AI companions. The Regulation on the Management of Digital Virtual Human Information Services was also circulated for public comment during the same period. China's National Radio and Television Administration issued classification and grading management standards for AI micro-dramas in July 2026, requiring that all AI-generated or AI-assisted micro-dramas and cartoon dramas display an AI creation or AI-assisted creation label prominently in each episode, with enforcement including platform takedowns of non-compliant works. Multiple Chinese celebrities including Xiao Zhan, Yang Zi, Yi Yang Qianxi, Dilraba, Yang Yang, Gong Jun, and others have been reported as victims of unauthorized AI face-swapping, voice cloning, and likeness use in short dramas, fake endorsements, and commercial videos; the first national case establishing AI-generated voice as a protected personal rights interest involved a dubbing artist whose voice was cloned without authorization and used in a text-to-speech product with over 3.2 billion plays. Beijing's municipal economic and information authority released the Supporting Action Plan for Innovative Development of Artificial Intelligence OPC at the 2026 Global Digital Economy Conference, identifying AIGC cartoon drama industrialized production, hyper-realistic digital human IP creation, and full-process AI short drama and film production as the three priority directions for support, offering up to 100,000 yuan in free computing resources per creator, opening public motion capture studios and virtual production stages, and providing up to 2 million yuan in project grants.

04 July News

Tourism: Taiwan Mobile's (台灣大哥大) AI avatar application MyMoji (MyMoji) deployed at the inaugural 2026 Taitung Expo from July 3 to August 20, positioning itself within the Taitung County Athletics Stadium and the Taitung Old Station Bus Center as the "Taitung Digital Traveler Generation Station." Users can build personalized 3D digital avatars using physical kiosks and AI selfie modeling, then dress those avatars in one of 16 Taitung-themed costume designs and 4 accessories inspired by events including the Taiwan International Balloon Festival, the 2026 Taiwan PASIWALI Festival, and the Taitung stargazing season. The installation also generates 20 GIF animated stickers and 20 AI video stickers on demand and uses augmented reality to place digital avatars inside Taitung coastal, starscape, and festival scenes. MyMoji reported 75 percent year-on-year user growth from January to April 2026 and has previously been deployed at major sporting events and tourist attractions across Taiwan. Separately, the Yimeng Kongji scenic area in Anhui province deployed an AI digital human guide service at Liuchi Lane in Tongcheng, Anqing, with the digital human providing all-hours intelligent narration, cultural interpretation, question answering, and route guidance tied to the lane's centuries-old courtesy culture, as part of China Mobile Anhui Company's smart tourism platform for the site. Guilin Tourism (桂林旅游股份有限公司) reported through investor relations disclosures that its Yinziyan Scenic Area launched what it called the world's first AI companion financial deity collectible toy integrating IP, AI, and physical-digital interaction, and that its Liangjiang Sihui scenic zone has deployed an AI digital human interactive greeter system developed in collaboration with a university partner.

Healthcare: WeChat's official public accounts platform launched a native AI avatar capability, initially opening access to hospitals, allowing public account operators to activate an AI persona through the backend without writing code. The AI avatar can be configured with preset personas, loaded with department introductions, triage rules, and consultation procedures, and linked to high-frequency keywords such as appointment booking and payment for quick-redirect interactions. Sun Yat-sen University Third Affiliated Hospital, known as Zhongshan Third Hospital, reported that after activating the feature its daily consultation volume rose from a monthly average of 100 cases to over 200 per day, with a response effectiveness rate of 70 percent and 30 percent of consulting users proceeding to book appointments; the hospital positioned the avatar as a treatment-process consultation service rather than a diagnostic tool. Qingdao Energy Group (青岛能源集团) built a smart gas safety production large model selected as a national AI application exemplary case by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology's science and technology department, and within it created an intelligent digital human plus embodied intelligent robot virtual-physical collaborative model providing a 24-hour standardized service window; the digital human can retrieve pipeline operating data and present it on a large-screen visual interface, while the embodied robot independently handles greeting, guidance, and question-and-answer tasks, reducing user inquiry response times to seconds. The Xinhua Insurance (新华保险) group and Ping An Property Insurance's Fujian branch both deployed proprietary AI digital human forms as carriers for public insurance education content during the 2026 National Insurance Public Awareness Day on July 8, with Xinhua using its AI digital human to create promotional works on technology-enabled public service and Ping An's digital human displaying typhoon disaster-avoidance techniques on in-store screens.

Entertainment: Taiwan's HTC VIVE ORIGINALS produced the 12-episode virtual idol music competition show VPOP ASIA, described as Asia's largest virtual idol music selection program, in which 15 trainees compete using 3D virtual avatars on a real physical stage alongside a human host, a live human band for recorded accompaniment, and rotating panels of 29 real-world music industry judges including ØZI, Dizzy Dizzo, Chen Xinhan, Peng Jiahui, Wei Leyan, and Ge Zhongshan, among others; the program was co-produced by Liu Siming, general manager of HTC VIVE ORIGINALS, and Chen Zhenchuan, and is scheduled to broadcast from July 18, 2026 on TVBS Huanle Channel, with the same content available on CATCHPLAY+ and Hua TV. In mainland China, AI short drama production reached a scale where AI-generated content accounted for approximately 95 percent of all micro-dramas uploaded in the first quarter of 2026, totaling around 122,000 AI-produced titles versus fewer than 5,000 live-action works; AI digital actors can now replicate micro-expressions including pupil dilation, eyelid trembling, and tear-fall trajectories and can complete continuous emotional progressions such as suppression through collapse to release, driving a structural collapse of live-action short drama production. Yaohe Media (耀客传媒) released the first fully AI-produced suspense short drama Qinling Bronze Mystery Records (《秦岭青铜诡事录》) featuring AI artists Qin Lingyu and Lin Xiyan on Tencent Video on April 15, 2026, demonstrating end-to-end AI production from script generation and character performance to scene construction and post-production. The National Museum of China jointly with Communication University of China produced the AI micro-drama Lizhun Zun (《盠驹尊》), using AI image generation, intelligent voice synthesis, and a first-person relic narration mode to recreate the Western Zhou horse-bestowing ceremony from three thousand years ago, with the work looping on a high-definition screen at Beijing West Railway Station's north second exit and reaching over 100 million travelers annually. Manggo TV launched the public-service micro-drama The Most Romantic Thing (《最浪漫的事》) accompanied by an AI-generated food short-video series promoting Hunan local products including Anhua yellow essence, Hejing sweet wine, Jingzhou poria, and Liuyang steamed dishes, beginning from May 4, 2026. Leyou Media's AI drama platform DramaWave (昆仑万维旗下DramaWave) reported an annualized recurring revenue exceeding 700 million US dollars as of July 2026, with over 80 percent of new content AI-generated using the SkyReels video large model for end-to-end script writing, digital character performance, multilingual dubbing, and video editing.

Marketing and E-commerce: Baidu (百度) formally upgraded its digital human direct-broadcast platform from Huibo Xing (慧播星) to Baidu Yijing (百度一镜), designating it as the company's globally positioned all-scenario multi-agent digital human platform and a core AI application metric within the mobile ecosystem business unit; Baidu's chief technology officer Wang Haifeng stated that by end of 2025 Baidu Yijing digital human broadcasters exceeded 100,000 in number serving over 30 industries including e-commerce, media, and education, and AI-native marketing services including digital humans and agents generated 2.3 billion yuan in first-quarter 2026 revenue with 36 percent year-on-year growth. Baidu's digital human live-broadcast ecosystem was anchored in a high-profile debut using a digital avatar of Luo Yonghao (罗永浩), achieving 55 million yuan in gross merchandise value in its first broadcast session. Senmara Apparel (森马服饰) confirmed that multiple of its brands have piloted digital human live-streaming operations on Taobao and other e-commerce channels, deploying digital human broadcasts during specific time slots to complement human presenter schedules and broaden service hours. On the Taobao platform, OPPO's official flagship store used the platform's official digital human tool to cover the 24:00 to 07:00 time slot continuously after human presenters go offline, with the store operating near-24-hour live-streaming; during the 2026 618 shopping festival, Taobao digital human livestreams generated daily average gross merchandise value exceeding 100 million yuan across the platform, attracted over 10 billion viewer sessions, and produced over 30 percent incremental gross merchandise value in night-time slots. Blemished household goods brand Huoli 28 (活力28) conducted 90 percent of its Taobao live-streaming through digital human hosts beginning April 2025, using the digital human to manage its initial launch period before human-digital cooperative operations; the company reported double or more gross merchandise value contribution from digital human broadcasts during its routine and 618 periods. Xin Dian Culture's Hongjiao Insurance (弘康人寿) created a consumer protection digital human deployed as a counter service kiosk inside its branch offices, and also launched a West Journey Explains Insurance AI short drama series using the characters of Journey to the West as a vehicle for insurance literacy content.

Cultural and Educational: Beijing's Dou Bao Love Learning application (豆包爱学), operated by ByteDance subsidiary Doubao (豆包), officially announced a partnership with noted actor Tang Guoqiang (唐国强) to deploy his AI digital likeness as an educator in a Seedance 2.5 video model-generated course series on the classical prose piece Chu Shi Biao (《出师表》), structured across three episodes covering context, admonition, and influence, with AI-rendered historical scenes including the Three Visits to the Thatched Cottage and the Autumn Wind at Wuzhangyuan, and concluded with an interactive feature allowing students to write messages to the Zhuge Liang character and receive AI-generated replies in the character's persona. China's traditional opera institutions, including the Chinese Academy of Opera and its affiliated departments, deployed digital human and virtual simulation technologies for pre-production digital rehearsals of new stage performances, allowing advance adjustment of lighting, blocking, and stage coordination; the Academy also used AI voice synthesis to reconstruct the vocal timprint of Cheng Yanqiu (程砚秋), one of the Four Great Dan-role Performers of Peking opera, from original phonograph recordings and restored archival stage footage using AI high-definition repair to recreate his lost performance of Suo Lin Nang (《锁麟囊》). Xin Yi City (新沂市) in Jiangsu province formally inaugurated the Rural Revitalization AIGC Digital Empowerment Platform in partnership with Modern Express, with the launch event featuring a lecture entitled AI Evolution — Your Super Digital Avatar targeting local agricultural practitioners, government officials, and educators.

Urban and Government: Shenzhen Futian District launched a Shu Zi Fen Shen (数字分身, digital avatar) presentation by the district head at its new quality industrial community promotional event, using the digital persona of a government official to deliver opening remarks and present investment attraction data including 109.61 million square meters of new high-quality industrial space and 63 quality projects. Beijing Tongzhou District released five industrial policy packages within five days in June 2026 supporting metaverse, XR virtual production, AIGC, and related sectors, with maximum subsidies of up to 10 million yuan per project; the district already has 114 metaverse-related companies, operates the Renmin VR Science Fiction Museum with more than 800 square meters of space and more than 20 immersive exhibits, and during its May 2026 science activities week staged real-time interactive metaverse digital human experiences and VR immersive Grand Canal tours. Yuan Meng Kongji (元梦空间) Digital Technology Chengdu formally signed an exclusive metaverse platform partnership agreement with Hangzhou Lingzhi Exploration Films for the spaceflight epic film Nine Thousand Li (《九万里》) on July 1, 2026, making it the first exclusive metaverse cooperation for a Chinese aerospace-themed film and committing Yuan Meng Kongji to deploy its ultra-realistic AI digital humans, AIGC real-scene modeling, MR mixed-reality technologies, and the three-thousand-square-kilometer Yuan Meng Da Shijie (元梦大世界) open metaverse ecology to create interactive aerospace scenes for the film's IP across virtual fire-rocket launch, space station, lunar, and Martian environments.

Enterprise: Bangyan Technology (邦彦技术股份有限公司) disclosed that its NuwaAI intelligent agent digital human cloud service platform, launched in 2023, staged a debut performance of an AI digital "Li Bai" character at Shenzhen Longgang Gangtou Ancient Town in January 2026 using ultra-high-definition large-screen real-time interaction, with the AI poet character reciting Tang poetry, performing rock music, and delivering stand-up comedy while participants received venue tickets and merchant coupons. Point Gold Technology (点金科技) developed a bank employee digital avatar workstation system called BankerOne for commercial banks, creating a personalized digital counterpart for each front-line credit officer that accumulates the officer's working habits, phrasing preferences, and judgment patterns through natural use; the system enables digital avatars to autonomously review loan application materials prior to human specialist confirmation, with the Workspace concept maintaining a unified context space for each client or credit application that accumulates visit records, authorization documents, and approval-stage supplementary data to bridge the context gap in complex multi-party credit workflows.

Regulatory and Ethical Contexts: China's State Internet Information Office together with the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, Ministry of Public Security, and National Radio and Television Administration promulgated the Interim Measures for the Administration of AI Anthropomorphic Interactive Services (《人工智能拟人化互动服务管理暂行办法》), which takes effect on July 15, 2026, specifically regulating persistent emotional interaction services that simulate the personality traits, thinking patterns, and communication styles of natural persons, with particular emphasis on protection of minors, data security, and risk prevention; the measures also require full-process management of digital virtual human services and prohibit providing a digital virtual human service identifiable as a specific natural person without that person's consent. The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology published a regulatory notice citing a Digital Human SDK (数字人SDK) developed by Beijing Aiyu Software Technology Co. (北京爱语吧科技有限公司, version 1.0) for violating regulations on personal information collection, requiring mandatory rectification. China's Central Cyberspace Administration conducted a four-month Qinglang campaign beginning April 2026 targeting AI application misconduct including AI impersonation of historical figures, revolutionary subjects, literary classics characters, and heroic figures; the campaign had earlier in 2026 processed 13,421 accounts and cleared over 543,000 pieces of non-compliant AI-generated content. The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology's 2025 AI Application Exemplary Cases included the Qingdao Energy Group smart gas safety model, recognizing its intelligent digital human customer service deployment in its gas safety operations.

03 July News

Entertainment: In China's short-drama sector, AI digital actors have advanced from rigid, unconvincing figures to characters capable of rendering complex emotional progressions including restrained grief, involuntary tears, and nuanced micro-expressions, prompting a structural collapse in the mainland short-drama industry. According to publicly available market data, AI-produced micro-dramas (漫剧 and short dramas) accounted for more than 95 percent of the approximately 128,000 micro-dramas released on all platforms in the first quarter of 2026, with Douyin alone adding 44,200 AI short dramas in April while live-action productions numbered only around 3,000. The production cost differential is stark: a true-life short drama costs between 500,000 and 1,000,000 yuan per episode, whereas an AI short drama can be completed for as little as 3,000 yuan and a premium AI production rarely exceeds 200,000 yuan, a cost gap of up to 300 times. Platforms including Honguo Short Drama (红果短剧) adjusted AI short-drama revenue-sharing coefficients and refined content review standards; six major platforms jointly pledged at least 6 billion yuan in support of high-quality live-action short dramas. DataEye Research Institute data shows that in January 2026 AI simulated-human short dramas accounted for 38 percent of the top-100 drama chart, up from 7 percent in 2025, with the projected 2026 AI drama market reaching 24 billion yuan and 280 million users. Leading short-drama production companies including Tinghuadao (听花岛) saw more than 30 of their top-tier actors — including Han Yutong, Li Keyi, Wang Peiyuan, Meng Na, and Zeng Hui — collectively suspend the release of monthly itineraries from late June 2026, citing project cancellations and unpredictable production starts as direct consequences of AI displacement. Live-action short-drama production volume fell year-on-year by more than 70 percent, and Hengdian studio occupancy dropped to approximately one-fifth of the prior year's level. Established mainland directors including Yu Zheng (于正) announced plans to produce hybrid works combining live-action and AI production, while director Lu Chuan (陆川) independently built an AI scriptwriting tool over 50 days. Research published in the journal Modern Film Technology by Cheng Xusen (程絮森) and colleagues at Renmin University of China systematically mapped metaverse and AI technologies — including LED virtual production, real-time rendering engines, motion capture, digital human construction, and AI short-content pipelines — to the Chinese film production chain, referencing productions such as the Kunqu opera film Gu Yanwu and AI drama projects by Bona Film and iQIYI, as well as the Seko (商汤科技Seko) platform's Wan Xin Ji. The film Beijing Shougang No.1 Blast Furnace SoReal Science Fiction Park (北京首钢一高炉·SoReal科幻乐园) integrates AI, digital twins, and holographic imaging to create a metaverse immersive experience space. Short-drama production company Hearst Times Education (火星时代教育) appeared at the Nur-Sultan AI Film Festival China Promotional Event and the Xinwan'er AI Short Drama Resource Matching Conference, presenting its full-pipeline AI film and television talent training system and AIGC Director Master Class curriculum. In Taiwan, HTC VIVE ORIGINALS launched VPOP ASIA, described as Asia's largest virtual idol music competition program, featuring 15 contestants performing on stage as high-fidelity 3D virtual characters alongside live human hosts, judges, and an orchestra, in a 12-episode format co-produced by Liu Siming (劉思銘) and Chen Zhenchuan (陳鎮川), with host Lulu (黃路梓茵) and 29 music-industry judges; the program began broadcasting on TVBS Entertainment Channel from July 18, on CATCHPLAY+ from July 19, and on CTS on Sunday evenings. Warner Music China (华纳音乐中国) formally announced a comprehensive strategic partnership with mainland virtual artist agency DreamMaker (造梦师), described as the first time any of the global three major record labels has systemically integrated into China's scaled virtual live-streaming artist ecosystem; DreamMaker has incubated more than 3,000 virtual singers with peak concurrent viewers of 100,000, and its flagship virtual artist KONG Kong (KONG控) generates over 28 million yuan annually from private-domain membership fees alone, with all virtual characters driven by dedicated real human performers using real-time motion capture. Warner Music China had previously launched national-style AI virtual rapper Wu Aihua (吴爱花, WUAI-HUA) in collaboration with new-media artist Wu Zhiqi, with the accompanying AI-generated music video supported by Kuaishou's Kling AI technology reaching over 10 million plays across platforms. China Video (中视新科动漫股份有限公司) entered bankruptcy liquidation, with 17 copyrights including the virtual character Xinke Niang (新科娘), also known as Bling or Xin Xiang, auctioned on JD Assets Exchange starting July 5 at a reserve price of 3,836.9 yuan; Xinke Niang was the official mascot and virtual UP-host of CCTV-6's Central New Shadow New Science Animation Channel, active primarily on Bilibili from 2019 until the channel ceased updates in December 2021. CCTV-6 (电影频道) concluded its global "Liu Gongzhu" (六公主) IP character design competition, receiving 1,268 valid entries from 23 countries and regions, with the first-prize work titled Guangying Shaonv (光影少女), a film-reel-inspired animated girl character intended for use across program packaging, merchandising, digital marketing, and planned virtual avatar deployment on short-video and live-streaming platforms.

Licensing and Portraiture: Hong Kong actor Wu Qihua (吴启华), aged 62, publicly disclosed that he had signed a legally binding portrait license agreement with a mainland AI film production company, granting the use of his likeness at approximately age 20 — reconstructed via deep learning and high-precision 3D modeling of his early screen appearances — to portray the male lead in an AI feature film without his physical presence on set; the contract explicitly restricts the licensed image to a single film and prohibits use in advertising, derivative works, or secondary development. Wu stated that the remuneration was substantial, reaching a level comparable to a top-tier actor's single-drama fee, and he confirmed satisfaction with the finished footage after reviewing it. Legal analysis by Zhang Xiaoting (张晓婷), a lawyer at Shandong Qilu Law Firm, characterized the arrangement as a portrait-use license contract rather than a rights transfer, consistent with Articles 992, 993, and 1023 of China's Civil Code, and identified three compliance strengths: purpose restriction, specific-image clause, and defined term and territory. A March 2026 Beijing Internet Court ruling in an AI face-swap infringement case established that AI-generated likenesses need only meet a "recognizability" standard — where the public can reasonably identify a specific natural person from the composite — to constitute portrait-right infringement, and that distribution platforms cannot escape liability by invoking third-party production. Yaofu Media (耀客传媒) signed AI actor contracts for characters Qin Lingye and Lin Xiyan, whose likenesses were alleged to blend facial features from multiple celebrities, generating large-scale infringement disputes. Cases involving unauthorized AI likenesses of celebrities including Jing Dong (靳东), Liu Xiaoqing (刘晓庆), and Dilraba Dilmurat (迪丽热巴) were cited as instances where rights-holders pursued legal action. The Beijing Internet Court ruling further clarified that broadcast platforms acquiring copyright authorization for an AI short drama cannot thereby escape liability for portrait-right violations within that drama's content. Industry commentators noted that iQIYI (爱奇艺) and its CEO Gong Yu (龚宇) had previously announced framework agreements with leading performers for digital avatar rights covering likeness, voice, and performance data for use in AI drama productions, with authorizations restricted to specific roles in specific productions and not constituting blanket institutional licenses.

Commerce and Marketing: Taobao (淘宝) digital human live-streaming reached a daily average GMV exceeding 100 million yuan across the full 618 shopping festival cycle, with over 10 billion cumulative viewers and a 180 percent year-on-year increase; nighttime digital human sessions contributed more than 30 percent of incremental merchant revenue. OPPO's official flagship store deployed Taobao's official digital human service to cover the 00:00 to 07:00 time slot, achieving near-24-hour broadcast continuity; the store's digital human and live human anchors together produced synergistic results described as exceeding the sum of their individual contributions, and the nighttime session refund rate was comparable to daytime sessions because late-night visitors typically had high purchase intent. Daily chemical brand Liguang 28 (活力28) allocated approximately 90 percent of its live-broadcast hours to digital human anchors following the introduction of Taobao digital human streaming from April 2025, citing faster store ramp-up and simplified Q&A compared with training a new human presenter; GMV contribution from digital human streams was described as more than double on both regular days and during the 618 period. Taobao announced forthcoming capabilities including a "generate digital broadcast room from a single image" feature scheduled for July 2026, aimed at lowering merchant entry costs. Shenzhen Qiyuan Zhisheng Technology (深圳启元智胜科技有限公司) offers the Yingqi Kunpeng Digital Human (盈启鲲鹏数字人) system for physical retail stores, enabling a custom digital avatar to be generated from one minute of video and 20 recorded sentences at a monthly cost of several hundred yuan, supporting 7x24-hour unmanned live streaming with keyword response, new-viewer greetings, and product explanation functions across Douyin and other platforms via a proprietary three-terminal system including a mobile app. Shenzhen Aoni Electronics (深圳奥尼电子股份有限公司) participated in drafting the group standard "Technical Specifications for Virtual Digital Humans Supporting Voice and Visual Interaction" and positions its smart audio-visual hardware as a carrier for digital human interaction. Beiguang Wireless Media (河北广电无线传媒股份有限公司) developed an AI digital human interactive system integrating large language models, multimodal AI, 3D character modeling, skeletal binding, and interactive scene development for deployment across IPTV set-top boxes, smart TVs, OTT devices, and mobile terminals. Quzhi Group (趣致集团, 00917.HK), a Hong Kong-listed company providing AI interactive marketing services, operates AI-language-model-based digital human shopping guides, AI tactile interaction, AI emotion recognition, and beverage flavor databases as part of its product portfolio. Tianyushu Technology (天娱数科, 002354.SZ) operates virtual human platforms and positions its self-developed enterprise-scale large model in cultural tourism and government service contexts, also serving as a TikTok overseas agency benefiting from AI-driven export traffic. Xiaoshangcheng (小商品城) deployed AI digital human cross-language live-streaming at Yiwu's sixth-generation Global Digital Trade Center to support multilingual product presentations for international buyers. Xinhua Insurance (新华保险) and Hongkang Life Insurance (弘康人寿) deployed proprietary AI digital human characters to serve as financial consumer protection promotion avatars during the 2026 National Insurance Public Awareness Day on July 8, with Hongkang Life also operating a digital human service kiosk at branch counters to handle insurance service inquiries and deploying an AI short-drama series titled "Xi You Hua Insurance" (西游话保险) using AI-generated classic Journey to the West characters to explain insurance principles.

Sports: Lenovo Group (联想集团), as the official technology partner for the 2026 FIFA World Cup and the 2027 FIFA Women's World Cup, delivered three interconnected virtual-being and AI applications across the tournament. The 3D digital human visualization system produced individual 3D scans of all 1,263 players participating in the tournament — each scan taking approximately one second — and integrated these models into the Semi-Automated Offside Technology system, enabling the replacement of abstract wireframe overlays with player-accurate digital replicas displaying true body dimensions, posture, and spatial relationships, allowing stadium audiences and global broadcast viewers to directly interpret offside rulings; by the round-of-16 stage the system had been applied in 73 matches across 109 hours of live broadcast. The FIFA AI Pro soccer AI super-agent, developed in close collaboration with Lenovo and powered by hybrid and generative AI, provided all 48 participating teams with post-match tactical analysis capable of processing millions of data points and over 2,000 match indicators, compressing analysis previously requiring two days into under two hours, with all teams active on the system and approximately 20 teams using it on any given day; the system supports 15 languages. Player 3D digital human data was also the foundational layer for this analysis platform, and Lenovo's ThinkStation P8 workstations deployed at pitch-side processed 16 4K video streams simultaneously, generating approximately 95,700 three-dimensional coordinate values per second and producing offside rulings in approximately 3 seconds. The Hologram Selfie installation, primarily deployed at VIP hotels and select match venues, recorded approximately 400 interactions per day with a peak of 800 on match days, while the Smart Wayfinding service exceeded 1 million cumulative uses by the round-of-16 stage.

Education and Cultural: Guangdong University of Science and Technology (广东科学技术职业学院) deployed an AI digital human modeled on revolutionary martyr Lin Jilu (林基路) in a cross-province civic education class linking schools in Taishan, Zhuhai, and Xinjiang's Kuche, with the digital human conducting an interactive cross-temporal dialogue on ethnic solidarity with students across the four campuses. Yancheng's Yanfu Dazhong Bao (盐阜大众报) media group won the Wang Xuan Press Science and Technology Award — the highest technical prize in Chinese journalism — for its Shuzhi Ren (数智人) content intelligence creation engine, and independently developed the so-called "490th employee" AI agent persona named Da Zhou (大周), deployed at the group's lobby entrance to receive visiting delegations 24 hours a day; the group's broader digital strategy includes building a digital human matrix as one of three flagship new-media formats. The 2026 Global Digital Economy Conference in Beijing, held at the National Convention Center from July 2 to 5, deployed the SoulAgent (智源SoulAgent) personal AI agent developed by the Beijing Academy of Artificial Intelligence (北京智源人工智能研究院), which concurrently ingested multiple forum livestreams and provided real-time structured summaries; SoulAgent had also integrated digital avatar versions of more than ten leading AI experts, enabling conference participants to conduct deep one-on-one dialogue with these AI expert avatars at any time. Shenzhen Longgang District's Longguo High School (龙城高级中学) group and Keyan School (可园学校) trained teachers in virtual digital human production as part of the district education bureau's push for digital literacy, with instructors creating virtual digital human teaching tools and deploying them in cross-subject classroom scenarios. Nanjing's Dejibo Art Museum (德基艺术博物馆) operates the Jin Ling Tu (金陵图) Digital Exhibition Hall, in which visitors use smart wristbands to select virtual Song-dynasty avatars that move synchronously within a 110-meter animated digital scroll of the historical painting; an AI experience zone within the exhibition generates personalized Song-dynasty portrait photos of visitors for use as souvenirs. At the 2026 Shaanxi Internet Civilization Conference in Xi'an, four AI digital human characters — Cang Jie, Zhang Qian, Sun Simiao, and Sima Qian — narrated segments of an anti-fraud and online-ethics public-education event, while China Taiwan Network (中国台湾网) demonstrated its AI digital human intelligent news anchor at the 2026 China Internet Conference science and technology expo. Yiwu's AI toy matrix exhibited by Yangzhou at the 2026 Digital Economy Industry Expo included AI plush toys capable of conversational interaction. The Chinese People's University metaverse smart campus project, described in an academic article in Modern Film Technology, constructed a persistent UE5-based shared virtual space incorporating campus digital human guides capable of autonomous interaction in multiple scenarios, and mapped digital human movement control to physical robot platforms as an extension into the physical world.

Development and Infrastructure: The independent developer CyberVerse (开源实时数字人Agent框架CyberVerse) project, built by a solo developer and reaching 1,300 GitHub stars, implements a real-time digital human agent framework enabling full-duplex video conversation from a single photograph; it integrates the FlashHead and LiveAct digital human models, uses Doubao and OpenAI large models as its reasoning core, incorporates a dual-layer main-agent and sub-agent architecture using a pi Agent for complex task execution, and resolves engineering challenges including WebRTC real-time communication, audio-video synchronization, and idle-video transition. The CyberCode open-source AI agent tool, built on the MIT-licensed GenericAgent architecture and integrating the GLM-5.2 (智谱AI) large language model as its default free backbone, constructs AI-generated short videos through a fully automated pipeline: GPT-image-2 scene generation, text-to-speech narration, and the HyperFrames engine assembling HTML, GSAP, Lottie, and Three.js into video animation timelines subsequently packaged as MP4 via ffmpeg. Yifu Kexin Technology (讯飞开放平台) showcased its GuideX digital human tour guide product at the Nur-Sultan AI Film Festival event under the Belt and Road initiative. Zhejiang Yixun Technology (讯飞开放平台) presented the GuideX digital human guide at the Central Asia open platform launch in Kazakhstan. Haojing Technology (浩鲸科技) deployed an emergency virtual digital human and an operations risk-alerting virtual digital human within its electric power large-model product suite, targeting State Grid and Southern Grid installations. TCL's smart spa hotel solution incorporates a virtual human receptionist interface that conducts natural-language conversations with guests via in-room televisions to recommend treatments, explain membership policies, and match massage therapists to guest preferences. Shenzhen Daijia Hulian (北京达佳互联信息技术有限公司, the entity operating the Bigo Live platform) filed a patent in April 2026 covering a live-streaming interaction method in which virtual character images based on streamer account avatars perform preset animated actions and respond dynamically to viewer gift-giving events.

Ethical Contexts: China's regulatory framework for virtual beings and AI-generated synthetic characters is being actively developed across several parallel tracks simultaneously. The Interim Measures for the Management of Artificial Intelligence Anthropomorphic Interactive Services (人工智能拟人化互动服务管理暂行办法), promulgated jointly by the Cyberspace Administration of China and four other ministries, takes effect on July 15, 2026, and specifically regulates services that simulate the personality traits, thought patterns, and communication styles of real individuals in sustained emotional interactions, with particular emphasis on protections for minors and prohibitions against emotional manipulation. The Administrative Measures for the Labeling of AI-Generated and Synthesized Content (人工智能生成合成内容标识办法) have been in effect since September 1, 2025, mandating disclosure labeling for AI-generated text, images, audio, video, and virtual scenes. The Measures for the Management of Digital Virtual Human Information Services (数字虚拟人信息服务管理办法) have been published for public comment. The CAC launched a four-month Clean Internet campaign in April 2026 specifically targeting AI application abuses including deep-fake production, unauthorized portrait synthesis, and AI-generated misinformation; public security authorities in the Dongpeng Beverage (东鹏特饮) AI video defamation case criminally detained suspect Luo under the campaign. Beijing Internet Court precedents in 2026 established that AI-generated likenesses meeting the recognizability standard constitute portrait-right infringement regardless of whether the image is described as a creative coincidence, and that platform operators who receive infringement notifications bearing prima facie evidence bear removal obligations with joint liability for damage arising after non-compliance. Commentary on the emerging AI-companion robot sector — in which one Chinese enterprise launched an embodied emotional-companion humanoid robot program with an announced "human-machine companionship project" offering 3D facial modeling and voice reconstruction to create physical replicas of designated individuals — noted that existing legal protections under portrait-right and voice-right provisions of the Civil Code and the Interim Regulations on Generative AI Services are applicable, while calling for ex-ante regulatory frameworks and platform due-diligence obligations commensurate with the pace of commercial deployment.

02 July News

Healthcare: WeChat (微信) public accounts officially launched an AI avatar feature on July 1, 2026, opening access first to hospitals, allowing the virtual being to answer patient inquiries around the clock without any coding required; administrators can activate the feature through the back-end management panel in one click, configure a persona and tone via prompt templates, and upload structured knowledge bases in Excel, Word, or PDF format covering triage rules, department introductions, examination instructions, and appointment procedures. The Third Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University (Zhongshan Third Hospital) deployed the AI avatar as a medical process consultation service, and without any official promotion the daily consultation volume grew from a monthly average of 100 cases before launch to over 200 per day, accumulating more than 6,000 users in the first month with a 70 percent effective response rate and successfully guiding over 500 actual appointment registrations. The University of Hong Kong Shenzhen Hospital, whose human customer service team previously handled nearly 400 consultations per day on weekdays and close to 1,000 on weekends, went live with the WeChat public account AI avatar in March 2026; the avatar now responds to more than 130 patient inquiries daily, has cumulatively served over 20,000 users, covers appointment booking, visit guidance, fee inquiries, and report interpretation, and additionally supports English and traditional Chinese responses for Hong Kong residents. At Beijing Children's Hospital, an AI pediatric physician co-developed by the hospital integrates the clinical experience of over 300 top pediatric specialists together with decades of case data, covers more than 300 common childhood diseases, and has been extended to community-level medical institutions in Xicheng and Fangshan districts to assist grassroots physicians with intelligent inquiry and preliminary diagnosis.

Entertainment: Hong Kong actor Wu Qihua (62 years old) licensed the portrait rights of his 20-year-old likeness to a film production company, enabling an AI system to reconstruct his youthful appearance for an entire film without him setting foot on set, a deal he confirmed publicly in June 2026 and described as a new career avenue for senior actors; the contract explicitly restricts the digital double to that one production and prohibits advertising use. Wu stated he had reviewed the AI-generated footage and was satisfied with the result, including the restoration of characteristics from his earlier roles such as the irreverent manner associated with his early television work. iQiyi (爱奇艺) chief executive Gong Yu earlier announced a plan to induct one hundred AI artists into a database and introduced the concept of performance migration, allowing AI avatars to replace live actors; within two months of that announcement Wu Qihua had publicly confirmed his own participation in an AI film project. ByteDance's Seedance 2.0, launched in March 2026, eliminated the need for human actors, directors, and sets in the micro-drama sector; according to data released by the China Network Audiovisual Association, approximately 12.2 million of the 12.8 million micro-dramas produced in the first quarter of 2026 were AI-generated, accounting for over 95 percent of total output. Former short-drama leading actor Xu Peng (Chinese Central Academy of Drama graduate who previously starred in productions such as Qie Shi Tianxia and Yi Nian Guanshan) lost all incoming work within one month when his primary production partner converted entirely to AI digital actor content, and subsequently returned to his rural hometown in Shandong to sell vegetables at a market stall; a later investor who saw his social media content agreed to fund both an original live-action short drama project and an actor training institution. Actress Liu Sisi, another short-drama lead, saw her day rate drop from 5,000 to 20,000 renminbi to 1,200 renminbi or less, and stated she struggled to come to terms with having been replaced by AI.

Marketing: Multiple Chinese insurance companies rolled out AI digital human characters as part of their 2026 National Insurance Public Education Day activities on July 8. China Merchants Cigna Insurance (招商信诺) produced an AI digital human short video series titled "AI Insurance Agent Takes You Through Insurance Highlights," embedding digital human figures into claim processing, loss prevention, and emergency rescue scenarios, and separately launched an AI micro-drama series adapting the four classic Chinese literary novels into insurance education content. China Life Property and Casualty Insurance (中国大地保险) developed a proprietary AI insurance agent image with distinct visual identity, using AI technology to place the digital human into real-life scenarios covering underwriting, claims, disaster prevention, and major project services. Harmony Health Insurance (和谐健康保险) and China Life Insurance (农银人寿) announced analogous digital human video production plans covering the same thematic areas. Zhaoqing Holdings Group (合百集团, Hefei Baihuo Department Store) launched its own 3D digital IP figure AI Xiaobai in 2023 with four core application capabilities spanning live streaming, marketing, corporate communications, and customer service, and was additionally exploring AR fitting mirrors and other immersive retail experiences. New Bank (新网银行) produced a high-engagement video on its video platform account in which an AI digital human performed a popular guofeng dance to the piece Tan Chunfeng, combining traditional aesthetic and AI technology and earning nearly 3,000 likes, cited as an example of banks using AI digital human content to attract younger audiences.

Gaming: Mihoyo (米哈游) listed BSide: Olivia Lin on the Steam platform on June 18, 2026, classifying it as an application rather than a game; the product centers on a virtual character named Lin Li (English name Olivia Lin), a Shanghai student who majors in piano and minors in psychology, and allows users to watch her play piano, upload MIDI files to generate music videos, and exchange letters with her to receive emotionally attuned responses. The project is backed by Shanghai Mihoyo Daohai Sangtian Technology, established in September 2025 with an operating scope including AI application software development, and a Bilibili account for the character had been active since August 2025 before the Steam listing. The company positioned this product as an AI companionship offering distinct from high-frequency chat applications, using music, correspondence, and desktop presence as the primary interaction modes, and requiring approximately 100 gigabytes of disk space for the full music library. Huya (虎牙) revealed its real-time interactive digital human model VAM-1.0 (Vivid Avatar Model) on June 30, 2026, developed by a dedicated team of approximately 30 people headed by CEO Huang Junhong; the model is driven by voice in real time, supports unlimited-duration full-duplex conversation enabling simultaneous listening and speaking with immediate responses, and features natural facial expressions and body movements coordinated by an adaptive audio injection module and a motion controller. VAM-1.0 addresses long-duration stability through training-phase noise simulation and inference-phase self-reinforcement correction, maintains identity consistency across long sequences via multi-reference frames, and achieves low-latency real-time rendering through compilation acceleration, attention and positional encoding optimization, VAE decoding speedup, low-precision quantization, and operator fusion. Huya has already opened a digital human live-streaming demonstration on its platform allowing audience members to interact via bullet screen comments including singing and dancing displays, and plans to extend the technology to esports commentary, e-commerce live streaming outside broadcast hours, and game marketing campaigns.

Enterprise: Shiyou Technology (世优科技) deployed AI digital human solutions across multiple Chinese educational institutions, including an animated school mascot named Chen Guoqiang at Beijing No. 11 School Longyue Experimental Middle School that was built from the school's uniform logo character through 3D modeling and AI and can answer scheduling questions and engage in simple emotional interaction; a high-fidelity digital reconstruction of educator Tao Xingzhi at the Tao Xingzhi Memorial Museum in Chongqing's Heqian district, capable of explaining educational philosophy through a dedicated knowledge base; and a digital human teaching assistant named Xiao You at the Xiong'an campus of Beijing No. 4 High School that answers student questions in real time and provides personalized instruction. At Beijing Jingshan School the company provided a low-code development platform enabling students to design and train digital humans themselves, and at Northwest Polytechnical University it supported virtual studio systems converting classrooms into Himalayan or interstellar environments and providing students with immersive practice environments. Zhiyuan Research Institute (北京智源人工智能研究院) introduced its personal intelligent agent SoulAgent at the 2026 Global Digital Economy Conference in Beijing, offering a virtual-being-enhanced conference experience that simultaneously ingests multiple forum live streams, structurally summarizes content in real time, and allows attendees to query ongoing session details or compare speaker perspectives; the product additionally hosts digital avatars of over ten leading AI experts, enabling users to engage in multi-turn in-depth dialogue with those expert digital presences. Feng Shang Culture Group (锋尚文化), through its subsidiary Feng Shang Interactive Entertainment (锋尚互娱), operates as a virtual digital human operator with a virtual performing cloud platform, four major business segments including virtual performance supplier and virtual artist management, and an in-house art and marketing team capable of independently developing virtual digital human products; the company participated in projects including a cyberpunk metaverse scene J WORLD produced with Migu for the esports world during the 2023 World Cup. Huashu Digital Human (华数数字人) Ai Jia participated in patriotic micro-dramas and routine government broadcasting, while Huashu's AIGC cultural tourism micro-drama Bu Zhi Shanhai became the first nationally filed AIGC cultural tourism micro-drama, was included in the Ministry of Culture and Tourism's key promotion list, and accumulated over one hundred million views nationally. Zhongshan University's Zhengzhou University Internet Medical and Health Service Henan Provincial Collaborative Innovation Center developed a cardiovascular health multimodal AI digital human platform incorporating the world's largest precisely annotated ECG AI database of ten million cases, innovative wearable ECG devices, and a cardiac health digital human medical AI model currently applied in hospitals, homes, and aerospace personnel selection. At the 2026 World Cup, Lenovo Group (联想集团) as an official FIFA technology partner created digital doubles of all participating players through three-dimensional body scanning capturing muscle density, stride data, and movement characteristics as a data foundation for real-time analysis.

Cultural: At the韶山(Shaoshuan) red education research-study program in Hunan Province, two digital human characters named Shao Xiaofeng and Shao Xiaohong were deployed during an immersive civics lesson titled Qia Shi Fenghua Zhengmao, leading student audiences through time to explore revolutionary heritage, combined with naked-eye 3D and sound-and-light technology to animate the teaching stage. At the 2026 Shaanxi Network Civilization Conference held in Xi'an, the civic education thematic session staged a performance in which AI digital human figures of historical figures Cangjie, Zhang Qian, Sun Simiao, and Sima Qian narrated ancient and modern ethical principles across successive program segments, accompanied by traditional Shaanxi folk art forms including Huayin Lao Qiang and satirical comedy. At the 2026 Beijing Digital Economy Experience Week held at Longfu Temple (隆福寺) in the Dongcheng district, the event featured digital human interaction and naked-eye XR immersive experiences as part of a broader showcase of over 300 AI innovations from more than 40 technology companies, and the AI enabling of old brands action plan announced at the event specifically included digital human technology as a tool for deepening AI-driven content creation in traditional commercial brands. In Ma'anshan Software Park (马鞍山软件园), a previously held AIGC Digital Human Li Bai Application Competition was listed as one of the high-profile talent attraction and technology research-and-development events that has drawn in hundreds of high-level and young professionals and advanced the local digital economy.

Ethical Contexts: A man surnamed Xing from Datong, Shanxi Province was placed under administrative detention by local public security authorities after generating an AI-simulated digital human likeness of Kuomintang chairwoman Cheng Liwen without authorization, using it to script and broadcast a commercial live stream exploiting the public attention around her mainland China visit, an incident cited by China's Ministry of Public Security Cyberspace Affairs Bureau as a representative case of identity fraud using AI-synthesized virtual persons. Douyin E-commerce (抖音电商) formally launched a portrait protection function on June 30, 2026, enabling content creators to register their names and likenesses so that the platform's AI model continuously scans all content and intercepts any account that uses AI synthesis or imitation of a registered creator's appearance or voice for commercial sales; between August 2025 and June 2026 the platform processed over 12,000 infringing impersonator accounts, over 48,000 counterfeit products, and over 261,000 infringing content items, and the new portrait protection function has proactively intercepted 92,000 infringing accounts. Taobao launched an AI fake image remediation action in March 2025 and blocked nearly 100,000 significantly distorted AI-synthesized product images, while Kuaishou conducted a month-long specialized campaign against AI-altered videos beginning January 1, 2026, processing 5,576 violating content items. The national regulator Cyberspace Administration of China reported in February 2026 that accounts failing to label AI-generated synthetic content were subject to enforcement action, resulting in the processing of 13,421 accounts and the removal of over 543,000 illegal or non-compliant items. The Regulations on the Administration of Live-streaming E-commerce, effective February 2026, brought digital human hosts and other AI-generated content fully under regulatory oversight, while the Measures for the Identification of AI-Generated Synthetic Content require prominent labeling of all AI-generated portraits and videos with maximum fines of 100,000 renminbi for non-compliant service providers. The Guangdong broadcast authority's regulatory notice for AI micro-dramas, updated in June 2026, prohibited AI-generated drama content and digital human performances from relying on false AI personas or fabricated efficacy claims in advertising, and banned AI face-swapping or fictitious plot grafting onto advertisements. Shanghai Niudun Technology (上海纽盾科技) was granted a patent titled Method, Device, and System for Implementing Interactive Security for Digital Humans in the Metaverse, with authorization announcement number CN115712352B, covering security mechanisms for digital human interactions in metaverse environments.

01 July News

Entertainment: China's virtual being industry is expanding aggressively into live performance and entertainment venues. Bilibili (哔哩哔哩) subsidiary Quanzhou Guoling Technology Co., Ltd. (泉州果灵科技有限公司) has established the VirtuaReal virtual idol Southeast China operations headquarters in Quanzhou's Licheng district, with plans for regular offline virtual concerts, deep collaboration with Quanzhou's World Heritage ancient city resources, virtual IP and local cultural tourism content linkages, and a dedicated motion-capture production facility for mixed-reality live performance. Meanwhile, Beijing Universal Resort has announced a concert event for virtual idol Luo Tianyi (洛天依), featuring a new image reveal and world premiere of a new birthday song, scheduled for July 12 under the title "Luo Tianyi 14th Anniversary Resonance Night Offline Birthday Concert: Super Unlimited Signal." At the same time, Zheli Mutual (浙文互联集团股份有限公司) has built a standardized digital human production system called Pai Zhi, with cumulative consumption exceeding 250 million yuan in 2025 and year-on-year growth of five times; the company has also created virtual digital human intellectual properties Junruojin and Lan LAN, deploying them in automotive offline launch events and urban cultural tourism promotions.

Cultural: Virtual beings are being actively deployed to represent historical and cultural figures across multiple Chinese cities and institutions. At Minnan Normal University (闽南师范大学) in Fujian, students at the affiliated secondary school encountered a digital human avatar of the cultural figure Lin Yutang, created by the university's computer science college students, which engaged middle school participants in real-time dialogue and AI-animated interactions themed around Minnan culture. In Shaanxi, the 2026 Shaanxi Internet Civilization Conference network ecology event deployed AI digital human avatars of Cang Jie, Sun Simiao, Zhang Qian, and Sima Qian to deliver thematic addresses on internet civilization topics including calligraphic integrity, medical benevolence, Silk Road exchange, and historical truth, with the four figures engaging in a cross-temporal dialogue format. In Shandong's Liaocheng, the city's media apparatus debuted Liao Xiaoyu (聊小优), a proprietary AI recommender avatar styled as a friendly young male character, deployed to promote local brands such as Donge Ejiao and the city's agricultural products through short-video platforms while enabling user co-creation. In Shanxi's Yangquan, the 1947 AIGC Digital Audio-Visual Industrial Park, equipped with millimeter-level optical motion capture, AI virtual digital human full-process production tools, and a professional XR virtual film studio, graduated its first cohort of AIGC trainees, with the park planning to produce 30 to 50 AI short dramas per month by 2027.

Tourism: The deployment of virtual beings as tourist guides and destination ambassadors is accelerating in China. At the opening of the Fourth Jiuzhaigou International Ecological Cultural Tourism Season on June 26, Jiuzhaigou's first dedicated AI digital human, Xiao Jiu, made its public debut as master of ceremonies for the opening ceremony, capable of switching between five characteristic forms to narrate the valley's scenery and promote regional scenic resources through accompanying promotional videos. In Shenzhen's Futian district, a digital avatar of district mayor Zhou Jiangtao was deployed on stage at the "New Quality Industry Community" promotion event on June 26 to deliver an invitation address to hundreds of participating enterprises, marking a concrete application of a government official's digital double in a live public event context. Ticket platform Ticket Pay Tong (票付通) has further integrated digital human sign-language interaction and AI companion guide functions into its tourism service matrix, part of a broader AI product offering covering pre-trip, in-trip, and post-trip phases for scenic area operators.

Enterprise: Corporate deployment of virtual beings as digital employees and operational tools is gaining ground across Chinese industries. Ping An Property Insurance Fujian Branch (平安产险福建分公司) won two top awards at the 2026 Insurance Technology Innovation Competition with its Group Client Service Intelligent Agent Employee and its Tuancai Pengpeng Business Digital Human. The Group Client Service Intelligent Agent functions as an AI super-employee capable of generating customized rights and service plans for specific customer groups within minutes, proactively identifying high-risk enterprise clients during typhoon season and dispatching disaster-prevention materials, transforming the company from a passive claims-payer to an active loss-reducer. The Tuancai Pengpeng Business Digital Human serves as a deep-thinking operational partner for back-office staff, capable of autonomously diagnosing business problems, coordinating cross-departmental collaboration, and generating detailed business review reports in minutes, saving thousands of hours annually. Keda Guochuang (科大国创, stock code 300520) deployed the Xiaoyi AI Enterprise Service Digital Human on the Anhui Small and Medium Enterprise Public Service Platform Yiqi Service Cloud (益企服务云), enabling minute-level intelligent responses for policy interpretation, supply-demand matching, and growth alerts. The Shenzhen-listed Zheli Mutual (浙文互联集团股份有限公司) and Guangdong listed companies including Zhongdian Ke Digital Technology Co., Ltd. subsidiary Shanghai Huaxun Network Systems Co., Ltd. (上海华讯网络系统有限公司) also released a new 2.5D digital human product featuring full-chain intelligent interaction, zero-code configuration, multi-terminal adaptation, and private security deployment.

Healthcare: China's medical and elderly care sectors are adopting virtual beings as professional agents and companionship tools. Gusheng Tang Chinese Medicine Chain Management Group (固生堂中医连锁管理集团) released 13 Traditional Medicine AI Avatars in 2025 covering eight core medical specialties including oncology, dermatology, digestive internal medicine, otolaryngology, male medicine, psychology and sleep medicine, classical formula medicine, and orthopedics. These avatars are built on the clinical experience of 13 top physicians including National Traditional Medicine Master Shi Qi and National Famous Traditional Medicine Physician Cai Gan, achieving over 86 percent expert simulation consistency across a five-stage diagnostic loop covering condition collection, medical record generation, assisted syndrome differentiation, assisted prescription, and post-treatment follow-up. In Taiwan, National Central University's Department of Computer Science and Engineering and Nova Materials Technology (諾瓦材料科技) established a joint research center on June 29 to develop virtual human and intelligent robot companions for elderly people, using large language models as their core engine with personalized memory built from text, photos, videos, and personal life stories, supplemented by image-based neurophysiological sensing technology for real-time emotion recognition. iFLYTEK (科大讯飞股份有限公司) has developed virtual teacher figures for intelligent instruction and has filed new patents covering virtual character voice interaction for real-time human-machine interaction. In the elderly education market, AI companion and emotional companionship models from companies such as Lihua Education (梨花教育, under Shifangh Rong He) provide personalized AI-coached and emotionally supportive experiences for middle-aged and elderly learners.

Sports: Lenovo Group (联想集团) served as FIFA's official technology partner for the 2026 FIFA World Cup, deploying a 3D digital human visualization system that generated dedicated digital models for all 1,263 players from all 48 participating teams in 12 days before the tournament, enabling stereoscopic replays of key rulings such as offside calls and physical contact incidents in VAR reviews. The system was applied during the tournament's first match to visualize a disallowed goal by Lionel Messi, and was used repeatedly throughout the round of 16, including to confirm that a Brazilian headed goal was not in an offside position. Lenovo's Football AI Pro, a generative AI assistant for football scenarios, was made available to all 48 teams for pre-match analysis and post-match review, compressing what had previously been two days of post-match analysis into two hours. As of mid-tournament, 20 teams were using the system daily with an average of 105 analytical queries per day.

Education: Fudan University's (复旦大学) Department of History introduced an undergraduate elective course titled Historical Figure Agent Development in the spring semester of 2026, led by Associate Professor Zhu Lianbei and Professor Chen Yan. Students used domestic AI platforms and large language models to build synthetic character agents modeled on deceased historians including Liang Qichao, Chen Yinque, Gu Jiegang, and Qian Mu, training them with system prompts, knowledge bases, and question-and-answer pairs, then staging a simulated academic conference around the theme of whether history serves as a useful guide. Students trained voice outputs for their agents, some giving foreign scholars a Chinese-speaking presence, and one student built a web interface enabling multi-agent real-time dialogue. By semester end, 110 user feedback responses showed majority approval for the agents as study-guidance tools. The course is scheduled to be iterated in the spring of 2027 with a dedicated platform for instantaneous inter-agent dialogue and an expanded focus on multimodal interaction.

Regulatory: China's regulatory framework for virtual beings is developing rapidly across multiple fronts. In April 2026, the Cyberspace Administration of China released for public comment the Draft Administrative Measures for Digital Virtual Human Information Services, establishing a comprehensive governance framework covering the full lifecycle of virtual being services. On June 11, 2026, the Beijing Economic and Technological Development Zone issued the first digital artist card in China to virtual idol You Li, making her the first digital human in the country to hold formal qualifications for commercial offline performances. On June 16, the development zone officially published Beijing's first sandbox approval mechanism for new-quality productivity, specifically covering robots and digital human commercial performances, establishing a full-loop management mechanism from entry application through compliance review, sandbox trial, and exit approval, with mandatory safety personnel and blockchain-based traceability for all digital human performances. The Chinese Broadcast and Television Social Organizations Alliance Performers Committee also issued a statement in April 2026 clarifying that performers' portrait rights, voice rights, and artistic image rights are legally protected and that any use of AI face-swapping or voice simulation without written authorization is prohibited even when labeled non-commercial.

Ethical Contexts: The proliferation of AI digital human short dramas in China has generated significant ethical and labor displacement debates. By the first quarter of 2026, AI-generated digital human actors accounted for over 95 percent of the approximately 128,000 short dramas released across the industry, according to data from the China Internet Audio-Visual Association and research firm DataEye. Actor Xu Peng, a graduate of the Central Academy of Drama who had recently secured lead roles in short dramas, lost all upcoming projects within one month when a major Hengdian production company pivoted entirely to AI digital human content, reverting to selling vegetables in his Shandong hometown. Hong Kong actor Wu Qihua, aged 62, disclosed at a TVB promotional event that he had authorized a production company to recreate his 20-year-old likeness using AI for a film in which his digital double performs all scenes without him entering the studio, with the authorization explicitly limited to that one film. The move prompted extensive public debate, with actress Hao Lei stating that AI would displace 90 percent of actors given the cost efficiency of AI production at under one-tenth the price of live-action equivalents. The People's Daily published commentary criticizing the homogenized aesthetic of AI-generated faces in short dramas and calling for restoration of the sense of real human presence in content. Fraud-related misuse of AI digital humans was also widely reported, with Beijing Evening News documenting a large-scale gray-market ecosystem using AI-generated digital human accounts to generate flattery videos targeting elderly users and direct them to purchase overpriced goods or pay for external services, with Beijing law firm partner Xiao Sa noting the behavior potentially constitutes false advertising under China's consumer protection regulations.