As artificial intelligence transforms China’s entertainment industry, a growing number of people are finding a new way to earn money: licensing the rights to their faces for AI-generated content.
Online platforms are allowing users to upload images of themselves, set limits on how their likeness can be used and receive payments when producers select their faces for advertisements, video games and short-form dramas. Prices range from about $15 to $700, depending on usage rights and the length of the agreement.
The emerging marketplace reflects the rapid expansion of AI-generated entertainment in China, where producers are increasingly using digital characters to reduce production costs and speed up content creation.
Platforms including ActID and New Claw have created searchable databases where producers can browse faces by age, gender and appearance. Users can decide whether their images can appear in certain types of productions, including romance, comedy or thriller content.
“Whether actors and models choose to license their faces on our platform or not, AI has already disrupted the industry,” said Long Lyu, operations lead at Chengdu-based AI image rights platform New Claw. “Selling the rights to their photos gives them a way to earn, while continuing their careers offline.”
ActID, based in Shenzhen, has registered about 800 users since launching in March, including professional extras, influencers and people with no acting experience. About 300 have agreed to license their images for AI productions, the company said.
The rise of AI-generated videos has also raised concerns over privacy and consent. Some people in China have discovered their faces appearing in AI-created content without permission.
ByteDance’s AI drama platform Hongguo faced criticism after two influencers accused it of using and altering their faces without consent. The company later removed the production.
Legal disputes over AI likenesses are increasing. The Beijing Internet Court ruled in March that using a person’s likeness in AI-generated face swaps without authorization is illegal, even if the image has been modified.
Yile Deng, a Beijing-based lawyer who handles AI-related portrait rights cases, said licensing platforms could help create clearer rules but warned that unclear contracts may leave users uncertain about how their facial data will be used.
For some, the new market offers an opportunity to benefit from AI’s growth. Others worry that once their faces become digital assets, they may lose control over how their identities are used.
As China’s AI industry expands, the debate over who owns a person’s likeness is becoming one of the technology’s biggest challenges.
