At the iQiyi World Conference held on the morning of April 20, iQiyi Inc. founder and CEO Gong Yu delivered a keynote address.

Gong Yu stated that in response to the transformation driven by AI, iQiyi is adapting by moving towards decentralization. The platform is shifting away from the traditional model where a small group determines audience preferences, toward a community-driven approach involving creators and users.

He pointed out that previous transitions, such as moving from PC to mobile and from advertising to membership fees, were only partial changes. In contrast, AI is bringing about a fundamental transformation of the underlying business model.

Gong Yu explained that iQiyi has historically focused on two main areas: first, optimizing playback experience, advertising, and payment mechanisms at the technical level, while investing significant resources to embed its player into a vast number of devices; second, relying heavily on a centralized platform team for content, with substantial dependence on copyright purchases and in-house production investments. However, this centralized model is under pressure due to continuously rising content costs and increasing industry competition.

He believes that AI technology will significantly reduce content production costs and cycle times, potentially leading to a hundredfold increase in the number of creators and works. Centralized decision-making will be unable to cope with this scale. Therefore, iQiyi must transition to a decentralized model, building a community for creators and users. The video player will become just one component among many, and more creators will be able to upload their works independently and monetize directly through memberships, advertising, and other means. The platform will take a step back, though iQiyi will continue to produce some flagship content in-house.