What happened

Shanghai-based production company Youhug Media publicly announced the "signing" of two fully AI-generated digital actors named Lin Xiyan and Qin Lingyue to star in an upcoming 60-episode short drama. 

Chinese internet users and industry insiders quickly pointed out that the digital characters' faces appeared to be a "face fusion" (collaging features from multiple real people) that strongly resembled top Chinese stars such as Zhao Jinmai, Zhang Zifeng, and Liang Jie. 

The incident caused a furore, with actors, models, and creative artists fearing their likenesses and hard-earned professional identities were being systematically scraped and cloned into digital doubles without permission or compensation. 

Internet users also pointed to the loss of jobs that these and other AI actors appear likely to cause.

Why it happened

Under China's Civil Code, natural persons enjoy the right to their likeness, and without consent, no one may produce, use, or publicly disclose their likeness. In legal terms, "likeness" does not only refer to a complete facial image but also includes any "externally identifiable features" that allow the public to recognise a specific individual. 

However, the existing law had not been tested against AI-generated faces that approximate rather than directly copy real people, creating a transparency and accountability gap that companies could exploit. 

Equally, the commercial incentive to cut production costs using AI performers is enormous in China. Short dramas featuring AI actors accounted for almost 40% of the top 100 animated short dramas in January 2026, up from under 10% a year earlier, according to digital content marketing platform DataEye. 

The total market value of China's micro-drama and animated short drama sector reached 100 billion yuan ($14.5 billion) last year - nearly twice the country's film box office revenue. 

Youhug Media told local media that the two AI actors’ images were generated “without copying or using the facial features of any real individual,” raising questions about accountability.