How Artificial Intelligence is changing China’s minidrama industry

AI is writing, acting and producing China’s minidramas. It’s shaking a $14 billion industry.

This version of China Minidrama Artificial Intelligence Unemployed Actors Microdramas Rcna587414 - World News | NBC News Clone was adapted by NBC News Clone to help readers digest key facts more efficiently.

“AI is changing everything,” Gao Qingge, a microdrama director based in Beijing, told NBC News. “Because AI can save a lot of money.”

July 20, 2026, 11:15 AM EDT

By Janis Mackey Frayer, Dawn Liu, Erin Tan and Larissa Gao

ZHENGZHOU, China — Chinese microdramas — known for hyperemotional stories about torrid love affairs, time-traveling revenge and explosive family secrets — are facing drama of their own as AI transforms an industry that is also rapidly expanding in the United States.

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