AI Short Drama Boom Creates New Business of Face Licensing

As AI short dramas and digital ads grow fast, the demand for digital face materials is rising. A new business called 'face licensing' has appeared. People can earn money with just their face, without acting in front of cameras. Platforms divide digital faces into two types: ordinary people and professional actors. Ordinary people get about 100 yuan per short video, while actors earn from 500 to thousands of yuan based on usage and video length. Buyers can pick faces by age, gender, or style. After a deal, the platform shares the profit with the face owner. Data from industry researcher Data Eye shows that AI short dramas earned over 22 billion yuan in the first five months this year, and may reach 40 billion for the whole year. In the first quarter, AI short dramas made up more than 95% of all new mini-dramas.