iQIYI CEO Gong Yu: AI Is a Bonus for Content, Quality Is the Bottom Line

At the 2026 iQIYI iJOY Autumn Showcase, founder and CEO Gong Yu outlined iQIYI's three AI priorities: going all in on AI to empower live-action and AIGC feature films, building a healthy creator ecosystem, and exploring new AI-driven content formats.

Gong said that in recent months, "hybrid" content blending live-action and AI has seen explosive adoption, improving viewing experience, shortening production cycles, and cutting costs, making it a fast-growing segment in the film and TV industry. He stressed that AI is a bonus for content, not a tool for assembly-line, standardized production, and that maintaining quality is the bottom line.

On the creator ecosystem, Gong aims to help creators "win steadily" with sustained income and returns. iQIYI is also exploring natural-language AI interaction to write code and produce lightweight games or interactive apps, with its App interactive channel already live.