iQIYI charts AI-powered future at World Conference 2026

Building a new content ecosystem

"iQIYI will transform into a decentralized social media-like platform, building a new content ecosystem where creators own their IP assets, audience relationships, and substantial commercial returns," Gong said. "Our future work will focus on establishing this new ecosystem through close collaboration with creators."

At the same time, the platform will continue to produce a limited number of premium IP titles, though the proportion of in-house productions will be significantly reduced.

iQIYI has upgraded its creator account system with zero-threshold onboarding and a simplified sign-up process, allowing creators to publish and distribute content directly. Integrated with Nadou Pro and iQIYI's creator account and revenue-sharing systems, creators' works can seamlessly enter the platform's distribution network and benefit from a transparent and open revenue-sharing mechanism.

Returns are tied to actual project performance with no limit. Additional incentives include a 20 percent subsidy for AI-generated and mid-form series through the end of 2026.

Meanwhile, iQIYI is expanding support through training programs, creator communities, funding opportunities, and resources such as computing power, IP licensing and office space.

Among these efforts, the "Peter Pau × iQiyi AI Theater" launched with Oscar-winning cinematographer Peter Pau, has released 16 AI short films within eight months, with a growing number of creators already joining the platform.

Despite rapid advances in AI, the company said the industry's core fundamentals remain unchanged.

"Even in the AI era, two things in the film and television industry will not change: premium content and strong IP. Great stories will always define top value, and strong IP will continue to generate higher ecosystem returns," said Wang Xiaohui, iQIYI's chief content officer.

Wang added that in the AI era, creators' core capability is to become an "AI content architect"—those who can both design and deploy AI agents, while effectively coordinating and collaborating with them.