iQiyi bets on AI-native TV—and TikTokifies its core app
iQiyi said it expects AI to create the majority of its films and shows within five years and is restructuring its core app and website toward a more social-media-like destination centered on AI-generated video. The company debuted its Nadou Pro filmmaking toolkit, announced a new social-video app, plans an international version using models including Google Veo 3.1, and said it will incentivize AI creators with an additional 20% share of advertising and membership revenue. The shift is positioned as a response to competitive pressure from short-video platforms and follows an estimated 13% year-over-year revenue decline in Q1, alongside plans for a Hong Kong listing.
Key Takeaways
- iQiyi expects AI to produce most of its film/TV output within five years, while continuing some investment in premium, professionally produced titles.
- Nadou Pro debuts as an AI production suite spanning scripting, storyboarding, asset use, and final rendering; iQiyi is seeding the platform with 16 Nadou-made films to jumpstart adoption.
- The company is pivoting its app and website toward a social-media-like feed of AI video and launching a dedicated social-video app to compete for short-form attention.
- iQiyi plans an international version of Nadou Pro using models including Google Veo 3.1, alongside models from Alibaba, ByteDance, and Kuaishou.
- A 13% estimated Q1 revenue decline and a pending Hong Kong listing underscore the urgency behind reallocating capital toward AI services and new monetization levers.
Why It Matters
This isn’t just “AI in production”—it’s an attempt to replatform streaming into an AI creator economy. If iQiyi can turn its catalog into an IP/asset layer and pay creators like a social network (extra 20% rev share), the unit of competition shifts from tentpole hits to throughput, personalization, and a recommendation-driven content factory. That pressures every streamer facing short-video leakage: either become a distribution + toolchain marketplace, or keep paying rising costs for shrinking attention. The meme to watch: “TikTok, but the studio is the model—and the platform owns the assets.”
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