iQIYI's Gong Yu: AI technological innovation brings a springtime to the film and television industry

Shanghai Securities News China Securities Network reported (Reporter Yang Xiangfei) that on March 13, at the 2026 China TV Drama Production Industry Conference and the 11th China (Shenzhen) International TV Drama Program Trade Fair, Gong Yu, Executive Vice President of the China TV Drama Production Industry Association (abbreviated as “China TV Drama Association”), founder and CEO of iQIYI, said that AI technological innovation brings spring to the film and television industry.

“AI technological innovation will inevitably bring new changes to the film and television industry: the Law of One-One-Two.” Gong Yu explained in detail: first, the unit content cost will be reduced by one order of magnitude; second, the number of creators will increase by at least one order of magnitude; and third, the number of works will increase by at least two orders of magnitude. “AI technological innovation will drive the number of works to increase by 100 times, 300 times, and 500 times.”

Gong Yu said that AI has changed content production, and it is beneficial for both production timelines and content costs. But the industry’s fundamental rules have not changed—IP is still the biggest asset. In his view, in response to the disruptive changes brought by AI, internet video platforms and long-form video platforms need to carry out a decentralized transformation. The platform will do so by creating professional intelligent agents for film and television creation and building a powerful content operation and management platform, thereby reflecting public service attributes.

In Gong Yu’s view, under the impact of AI, changes will also occur in the transaction models between platforms and producers, taking on an inverted triangular structure. The higher up, the higher the proportion of pure revenue-sharing content; next is pure revenue-sharing plus a small proportion of platform investment (for example, investing in computing power and IP); then comes a smaller number of platforms with a guaranteed minimum plus a revenue-sharing model; and finally, platform self-produced content. In the future, the proportion of platform self-produced content will continue to decline, and this decentralized transaction trend is inevitable.

“AI provides film and television professionals with an opportunity once in a decade—those who have the drive will surely reap tremendous fortune.” Gong Yu said that iQIYI has already established an AI studio internally, and it hopes to promote the industry’s development through collaboration.