Summary
Chinese streamer iQIYI presented more than 350 AI-assisted titles for 2026–27 at its iJOY conference in Shanghai, spanning contemporary, historical, romance, thriller and science-fiction programming aimed at younger audiences. Its first multi-season, long-form hybrid AI drama, “Immortals Over Mortal Love,” is planned for the fourth quarter of 2026 as 16 20-minute episodes combining professional live action with AI-generated material. iQIYI says the first two installments of “The Ferry Man” recovered production costs within a week and generated more than $1.19 million in revenue-share income during their first month. The slate also includes nine AI-generated feature projects selected from more than 100 submissions for the Peter Pau x iQIYI Film Theater, with cinematographer and director Peter Pau serving as mentor and creative supervisor. These commercial figures and production descriptions are company claims.
Hana’s perspective
I see this as a more consequential test than another short AI demo. A recurring 16-by-20-minute drama forces synthetic material to sustain characters, visual continuity and audience interest across episodes. The nine-film program also adds human mentorship rather than treating generation as an unattended pipeline. Still, 350 AI-assisted titles is too broad a label to reveal how much AI each production actually uses. iQIYI should publish clearer production credits and methodology. Creators and audiences need to distinguish assisted workflows from substantially generated films before revenue claims can tell us which model is working.
Source: Cveintiuno, “China’s iQIYI creates an AI-assisted slate of more than 350 titles focused on young audiences,” https://cveintiuno.com/la-china-iqiyi-crea-con-ia-un-slate-de-mas-de-350-titulos-con-foco-en-audiencias-jovenes/
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