Chinese Film and Television Production Company Introduces First Batch of AI Actors
China’s film and television production company has unveiled its first batch of AI actors and announced their participation in a new drama series. However, their appearances have raised suspicions of “splicing” multiple real-life celebrity features, sparking public backlash and questions about image rights.
On March 18, the Chinese film and television production company, Yaoye Media, made a high-profile announcement that its two AI digital actors, “Lin Xiyan” and “Qin Lingyue,” were officially debuting. They also launched accounts on social media platforms such as Xiaohongshu and Douyin, with plans to star in the new drama series “Mystery of the Bronze Tales of Qinling.”
Yaoye Media posted on its official Weibo account, stating, “Embracing the AI era, breaking through dimensions, crossing the boundaries of reality and virtuality, Qin Lingyue and Lin Xiyan are officially announced. Through the empowerment of technology, they will break the boundaries of creativity for those who love to speak up together.”
From the released videos, it can be seen that the female actor sports a neat short haircut with three-dimensional features, a prominent nose bridge, and deep-set eyes. The male actor possesses sharp facial contours and a striking high nose bridge. The female will play a geologist, while the male will portray a veteran soldier.
The video sparked widespread discussions among netizens, with many pointing out that the AI actors still exhibit stiffness in expressions, vacant eyes, and a strong sense of artificiality. Their performances show obvious shortcomings, lack emotional depth, and the virtual personalities are disconnected from real human nature, making it difficult to resonate effectively compared to human actors.
Many netizens believe that “Lin Xiyan” appears to blend facial features of various actresses like Zhao Jinmai and Zhang Zifeng, while “Qin Lingyue” is said to bear a strong resemblance to actor Zhai Zilu. There are even suggestions that the voice and demeanor of Qin Lingyue show traces of “human-like splicing,” leading to questions of infringement. One top comment even bluntly stated, “Actor Zhai Zilu could claim compensation.”
Zhou Chuikun, Senior Partner at Beijing Yingke Law Firm, told Beijing Business Daily that AI actors resembling multiple celebrities pose high legal risks, potentially constituting both civil infringement and unfair competition. The core standard for determining image rights infringement is the “recognizability” of the appearance. If the general public can directly and clearly associate the AI image with a specific real-life celebrity and if facial features closely match through technical comparisons, it may constitute image rights infringement. Even if the AI is “synthetic” or “fictional,” as long as it exhibits a high degree of stable resemblance in facial features and demeanor to a specific celebrity, leading the public to possibly mistake it for that celebrity, it falls under image rights protection.
Beijing Business Daily reported that the trend of AI short dramas is gaining momentum. According to DataEye data, in June and July 2025, the proportion of AI animated dramas in the micro-short drama industry was almost zero. Just half a year later, the number of views skyrocketed to 2.196 billion, showing a year-on-year increase of 181 times.
It is noteworthy that the previously popular AI “real person” short drama “Huò Qù Bìng” revealed that the actual production team consisted of about 20 people, with a computing cost of only 3000 yuan, and a work duration of 48 hours.
Industry data shows that the production cost of a single live-action short drama currently ranges from 500,000 to 1 million yuan, while an ordinary AI short drama costs only 3,000 to 5,000 yuan. Even for high-quality AI short dramas, the cost is at most 200,000 yuan, with a maximum cost gap of 300 times.
Young Chinese playwright and director Xiang Kai pointed out that Yaoye Media’s signing of AI actors and the launch of AI series are essentially seizing the technological trend and reducing costs to enhance efficiency, avoiding the pitfalls of artist “tantrums,” compressing cost cycles, while also building reusable virtual IPs to gain an early advantage in industrializing AI film and television.
Public information reveals that the company behind Yaoye Media is Shanghai Yaoye Media Co., Ltd., formerly known as Shanghai Yaoye Cultural Media Co., Ltd. Their business includes film and television drama creation, production, performing arts brokerage, idol development, and other areas. Their signed artists include Zhang Meng and Tan Jianci, and they have released several popular costume drama series such as “Prince of Lanling,” “Divorce Lawyer,” and “Where the Lost Ones Go.” In 2021, they were selected as a key enterprise for cultural exports by the country.