At the iQiyi World Conference held on April 20, CEO Gong Yu's discussion regarding AI authorization for actors and the release of a "willingness list" involving one hundred performers sparked significant controversy in the market. While the public outcry appeared superficially rooted in miscommunication during dissemination, fueling resistance to perceived "capital exploitation of creators," a deeper analysis reveals the underlying anxiety and urgency of this major long-form video platform grappling with multiple real-world challenges.
Currently, iQiyi faces pressure on two fronts. On the capital side, constrained by its loss-making financial fundamentals and the valuation demands associated with preparing for a Hong Kong IPO, the platform is eager to promote an AI-driven narrative centered on "cost reduction and efficiency enhancement" to rebuild market confidence. On the business side, confronting the relentless erosion of user attention by short-video algorithms, the platform is compelled to engage in a survival battle characterized as "using AI to fight AI."
Caught in this precarious position, iQiyi risks alienating both sides. Failure to adopt AI means missing a major industry trend, yet aggressively pursuing AI initiatives can provoke significant public backlash from an audience that fundamentally values emotional connection and human warmth in content. iQiyi's predicament in this somewhat hasty race is not unique. It represents not only a sharp clash between capital-driven logic and public sentiment but also exposes the deep-seated contradictions long-form video platforms face as they attempt to balance commercial survival with artistic integrity amidst the overwhelming tide of technological advancement.
The AI blueprint presented at the iQiyi World Conference was undoubtedly the central theme. To comprehensively showcase its specialized AI strategy, iQiyi launched the Nadoo Pro platform, designed to support full-stack AI-powered film and television creation, and publicly displayed a list indicating the AI authorization willingness of a hundred actors, including Ma Su and Chen Zheyuan. However, it was precisely this list and related comments that quickly ignited a social media firestorm, with critics labeling iQiyi as "arrogant."
Objectively, much of the public anger stemmed from information asymmetry. The "willingness list" was misinterpreted by many as confirmation that iQiyi had already secured substantive, blanket authorization from these artists for AI usage, leading to fears that actors' "digital doubles" had been wholly acquired by the platform. However, reports from the scene clarified that Gong Yu had carefully emphasized this was an expression of "willingness," not a final "authorization." His exact words specified that an actor's agreement for one project or role does not constitute consent for all others. Furthermore, a controversial rumor suggesting AI could enable an actor to "take on fourteen projects a year" was strongly refuted; Gong Yu's actual comments advocated for improving actors' work-life balance, cautioning against excessive projects that would degrade quality.
Beyond the emotional public reaction, iQiyi's keenness to prominently play its "AI card" is likely driven by capital market considerations. The company is at a critical juncture preparing for a Hong Kong IPO, while its performance on the US market has been tepid, with its share price falling nearly 50% since last September to close at $1.40 on April 20. Financially, it faces challenges, with FY2025 revenue declining 6.62% year-over-year and a net loss reaching 206 million RMB. In this context, AI has become a crucial lever for iQiyi to boost market confidence and revalue its stock. Initiatives like leveraging its extensive IP library for AI secondary development and exploring actor AI authorization are essentially efforts to demonstrate to investors the platform's ability to overcome traditional filming constraints, significantly reduce content creation costs, and achieve industrialized production.
While capital markets favor narratives of productivity leaps and infinite digital asset reuse, audiences consistently prioritize the emotional resonance of content. This disconnect explains why a presentation intended to "flex muscles" for investors devolved into a public relations crisis. The core issue was iQiyi's direct application of a financial and efficiency narrative, tailored for capital markets, into the public sphere without adequate translation, causing a violent collision between capitalist logic and popular sentiment.
From an industrial and capital perspective, the deep integration of generative AI into the film and television industry is an unstoppable technological wave. In this new content ecosystem, AI dramatically lowers production barriers, making assembly-line-style output cheaper. Consequently, the images, voices, and performing styles of famous actors become highly recognizable "scarce IP" with strong fan emotional connections, serving as crucial anchors for user attention in a vast ocean of AI-generated content. Platforms promoting actor AI authorization essentially seek to reuse this scarce IP to boost project throughput.
However, from the public's viewpoint, this logic appears cold and contentious. AI authorization for actors is deeply intertwined with rights of publicity, privacy, and complex commercial interests. When AI generation begins to介入 or even replace human emotional expression, it directly触动 society's most sensitive ethical nerves. Ordinary viewers and fans are less concerned with a platform's financial reports or valuation metrics; they care about a series' artistic quality, the soul of an actor's performance, and fundamental respect for creators. Therefore, when a platform emphasizes using AI to "replicate" actors and pursue efficiency in a public forum, the intended message of "technological empowerment" is naturally received by the audience as "capitalist arrogance" and "disregard for creative artistry."
Indeed, at this crossroads of technology and creativity, iQiyi itself is deeply entangled in an AI dilemma. The business model of long-form video is inherently built on prolonged, immersive viewing, which is the absolute cornerstone for sustaining membership subscriptions and advertising revenue. However, in an era of highly fragmented attention, this precious user time is being eroded by short-video platforms like Douyin. More critically, Douyin, leveraging its algorithmic优势, is aggressively boosting "Red Fruit Short Drama" to attack the core territory of long-form video, further capturing user mindshare and碎片化 time through a free model combined with fast-paced, plot-twisting short dramas.
Facing this "dimensional reduction strike" from short-video AI algorithms, traditional long-form video platforms like iQiyi feel an unprecedented sense of crisis. Long-series production involves extended cycles, high capital thresholds, and substantial trial-and-error costs, making them appear increasingly cumbersome and inefficient compared to the "industrialized assembly line + algorithmic precision distribution" model of short-form content. In this anxious sprint, finding a way to both resist the algorithmic erosion from short dramas and preserve the artistic standards and public reputation of long-form video is a challenge iQiyi currently struggles to balance.
For a product whose foundation should be emotional warmth, overly emphasizing AI advancements risks neglecting the audience's most genuine experiential needs. While the AI trend is undeniable and关乎 survival, moving too hastily can also sow the seeds of unforeseen risks.
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