A Chinese AI-generated actress commanding up to 51 million won ($35,000) for a commercial longer than 60 seconds has drawn wide attention, gaining hundreds of thousands of fans within a month of her debut while the drama she starred in surpassed 200 million views. She has also appeared in a spread for a well-known fashion magazine.
Who Is the Star Who Drew 400,000 Fans in a Month
Chinese media reported recently that the AI actress known as Fang Taozhi is drawing interest in the advertising market following the success of her drama.
Fang Taozhi is the lead character in "The Girl Who Was Laid Off," a Chinese AI-generated short-form drama released in June. The work, which rendered her face, voice and gestures entirely through AI technology, topped 200 million views within a month of release.
The drama follows a woman who moves from a small city to a major one and struggles to achieve her dream of becoming a model. The protagonist faces hardship after refusing unfair demands at work but ultimately grows on her own strength.
As the drama gained popularity, the virtual protagonist began operating like a real celebrity.
Fang Taozhi opened a personal account on Douyin, the Chinese version of TikTok, posting everyday videos of herself cooking, tidying her home and playing tennis. She gained 400,000 followers in about 30 days of her debut, and some reports put the figure at 470,000 followers with a cumulative 31 million likes.
Advertising revenue is substantial as well. According to rates published on Juliang Xingtu, a Chinese advertising platform, Fang Taozhi's commercial video fees run 168,000 yuan (about 33 million won) for one to 20 seconds, 208,000 yuan (about 41 million won) for 21 to 60 seconds and 258,000 yuan (about 51 million won) for anything longer than 60 seconds. That exceeds what some real influencers with more than 10 million followers charge.
Why a Fandom Is Forming Around Someone Who Isn't Real
Analysts attribute Fang Taozhi's popularity to a social media account run as though she were a real actress.
While earlier virtual characters stayed within their works, Fang Taozhi has continued to share her daily life and maintain ties with fans even after the drama ended.
Although she is not a real person, fans leave comments on her videos and root for her romantic storyline from the show. Some users have expressed astonishment at the detailed facial expressions and movements, asking whether she is truly AI.
Others, by contrast, say the close resemblance to a human is unsettling. Questions have also been raised over whether it is appropriate for an AI figure with no actual experience using a product to recommend it.
Li Weihua, a lawyer at the Shanghai office of the Chinese law firm Dacheng, said using an AI-generated virtual figure in advertising is not in itself illegal.
The lawyer noted, however, that an AI character is neither an advertising model bearing legal responsibility nor a holder of civil rights and obligations, meaning advertisers or operating companies must take responsibility if false advertising occurs.
AI Eyes Leading Film Roles as Debate Over Replacing Actors Spreads
The reach of AI actors is expanding beyond China into the film industry.
In July, the British AI video production company Particle6 began work on the feature film "Misaligned," starring the virtual actress Tilly Norwood. First unveiled last October at a side event of the Zurich Film Festival in Switzerland, Norwood drew attention for her British accent and realistic appearance. She has more recently given video interviews to foreign outlets including CNN.
For production companies, the appeal is holding the intellectual property rights to a virtual actor outright and using it repeatedly across films, commercials and other content.
But as AI actors take on more work, resistance is growing over the potential infringement of existing performers' rights.
The Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA) criticized Norwood's emergence, calling her not a real actor but a computer program trained on the performances of countless professional actors without their consent or compensation.
Beyond the possibility that AI could imitate real actors' appearance and voice without authorization, critics also point to the risk that consumers will take a virtual figure's advertising as a genuine user review.
In response, China drafted rules in April requiring clear labeling of content featuring AI-generated virtual figures and restricting the creation of digital personas that use personal information without authorization.
With AI actors moving in earnest into the film and advertising markets, calls are growing for new standards that balance the economic gains from advancing technology against the protection of existing actors' rights.