With the rapid development of artificial intelligence (AI) technology, AI short dramas have quickly attracted market attention due to their low cost and high efficiency. According to Chinese media quoting industry institutions, the user base for AI animated short dramas (including AI digital human short dramas) will grow from about 120 million last year to 280 million this year, and the market size is expected to reach 24 billion RMB (13.922 billion MYR). At the same time, AI short dramas have also changed the traditional way of producing short dramas, giving rise to a new ecosystem in which one-person companies and independent studios are constantly emerging.
The report quotes Le Li, Editor-in-Chief of Hongguo Short Drama, as saying that production volume of AI short dramas is currently very high, with daily new AI short dramas authorized for broadcast by companies possibly exceeding a thousand each day. A considerable proportion are AI digital human content types with narration, and some "viral dramas" have view counts exceeding 100 million. Zhao Hui, a professor at the School of Theater, Film, and Television at Communication University of China, pointed out that AI short dramas have brought about a complete transformation in the mode of production, activating creative people to use AI technology to realize the visual transformation of their ideas.
The report also quotes short drama entrepreneur Pang Haoyang, who says that, unlike the traditional film and television industry, AI short dramas do not have large crews or cumbersome communications—a single computer and a few AI software programs can constitute a "one-person crew"; currently, annual income can reach 200,000 to 300,000 RMB (116,000 to 174,000 MYR).
Another industry insider revealed that about 80% of practitioners in the AI short drama industry now come from non-film fields such as the internet and gaming, leveraging their existing technical advantages to quickly enter the industry and create a diverse sector ecosystem.
In fact, among the total 8.67 billion play counts during the 2026 Chinese New Year short drama season, AI animated short dramas accounted for nearly 30%, and within this, AI digital human dramas contributed over 80% of the play volume. Some industry agencies further predict that by 2026, the user base for AI animated short dramas (including AI digital human short dramas) will grow from 120 million in 2025 to 280 million, and the market size is expected to reach 24 billion RMB.
However, market differentiation has also emerged in the development of the AI short drama industry. According to industry estimates, top creators can earn a monthly income ranging from 100,000 to nearly 1 million RMB (58,000 to 580,000 MYR), but nationwide, there are fewer than 100 individual creators whose monthly income exceeds 200,000 RMB; in contrast, the vast majority of creators earn less than 10 RMB per month.