iQiyi Inc. (NASDAQ: IQ) held its 2026 iJOY Autumn Conference in Shanghai on September 23 under the theme "AI Toward New, Striving Forward." At the event, the company unveiled a slate of more than 350 new titles for 2026-2027, introduced a brand-new brand marketing system, and shared its All-in-AI strategy for empowering feature-length film and television production, its creator ecosystem development plans, and its insights into the evolving film and television industry, demonstrating the platform's continued innovation in content supply, creative ecosystem, and commercial marketing.
iQiyi founder and CEO Gong Yu outlined three key priorities of the company's AI strategy in his opening speech: going all in on AI to empower live-action feature-length film and television production as well as AIGC feature films, fully building a healthy content creator ecosystem, and exploring new forms of works spawned by AI. He also introduced iQiyi's creator ecosystem development layout, which is dedicated to building a "community for film and television creators and audiences," establishing a seven-major creator service system, always respecting creators, providing tangible support for creators, and ensuring creators are "seen, can earn money, and receive recognition."
iQiyi Chief Content Officer Wang Xiaohui delivered an in-depth analysis of industry shifts, arguing that Chinese film and television is fully entering three major eras: the C2C era, the "minority" era, and the platinum era of high emotional premiums. These three shifts will break the current deadlock of audience fragmentation, narrowing creativity, and rigid costs in the film and television industry. In the AI wave, everyone can create. When ordinary people hold AI tools in their hands, they will surely converge into a force driving the industry forward, jointly ushering in the spring of China's film and television industry.
Sticking to Premium Content, Releasing a Series of Highly Anticipated Key Drama Series
Long-form dramas focus on youthful expression, assembling heavyweight cast lineups and high-quality creative teams. iQiyi's General Manager of Commercial Content Marketing, Wang Huilin, presented more than 40 premium long-form dramas. Realistic themes awaken emotional resonance among the public with authentic texture. "The Great Long March" is a work commemorating the 90th anniversary of the Red Army's Long March victory and the 100th anniversary of the founding of the military. "A Good Prescription for a Small Town" stars Xiao Zhan and tells the story of how contemporary young people find self-reconciliation and growth. Sun Yang (Hong Kong, China) and Sun Li (Sun Li) will bring the emotional fantasy suspense drama "Birthday Approaching." The micro-dust theater mini-series "Though You Can't Have Everything at Once" stars Dilraba Dilmurat.
Multiple costume legendary dramas give classic themes new expression. The nationally renowned classical IP "Peacocks Flying Southeast" is directed by Xin Shuang and stars Tang Wei, Qin Hao, and Jiang Qiming. "Fifteen Days in Two Capitals" is adapted from Ma Boyong's novel of the same name and stars Fu Shizhen (Cheng Yi). "Bixue Chan" sets a new benchmark for Eastern suspense detective stories, starring Zhang Wenxin, Hou Minghao, and Xu Zhenxuan. The historical drama "Qin Mystery," a rare genre, released a brand-new concept trailer, while Wang Churan and Chen Zheyuan will bring "Floating Life." In addition, multiple premium costume dramas will be rolled out successively, including "Yun Chu Ling" starring Yu Shuxin, "A Thought of Jiangnan" starring Wang Anyu and Zhao Jinmai, and "Chao Yu Jie" starring Bai Mengyan (Bai Lu) and Chen Zheyuan, each with distinctive features and strong appeal.
Romance works depict the texture of young people's lives through delicate storytelling. "Misty Green," whose trailer was released, is directed by Qu Youning and stars Li Xian and Zhang Jingyi. Xu Ruohan and Huang Jingyu will bring "Mingchuan Has Knowledge of Summer." The suspense premium "Yu Hong's Old Affairs" stars Ma Yili, Wang Jiajia, and Zhang Zhehua, presenting a comedic drama of fate and fantasy.
The first ultra-long live-action AI seasonal drama is about to launch. At the conference, iQiyi announced its first ultra-long live-action AI seasonal drama "Not Envying Mandarin Ducks, Only Envying Immortals," which consists of three seasons, with the first season set to launch in the fourth quarter of this year. In addition, the costume long-form drama "Tian Xing Jiu Ge: Unrivaled in the World," combining live-action shooting with AI compositing, will also launch in 2027. From empowering live-action production efficiency to driving AIGC feature film implementation, iQiyi is continuously deepening the application of AI in feature-length content production. On the day of the iJOY Conference, multiple related topics such as #2027 iQiyi New Slate# and #iQiyi iJOY Conference Announces 50+ Dramas# successively climbed onto social media trending lists, with audience anticipation for this series of heavyweight new works continuing to rise.
Medium-Form Dramas Rise Prominently, iQiyi to Strengthen Label-Based Operations
This year, iQiyi captured the TOP 5 on the annual Yunhe medium-form drama full-network dominance chart. iQiyi Vice President Liu Huangfu introduced that in 2027, iQiyi will continue to expand the supply of premium medium-form drama content while strengthening branded operations for medium-form dramas, covering differentiated audience needs through three major labels: "Undercurrent Theater," "Flower Splendor Theater," and "Spring and Autumn Theater."
In the short drama and comic drama fields, iQiyi will pursue development along three directions. First, promoting long-short linkage of top IPs to fully tap IP value, such as launching the long-short linkage derivative short drama "Phantom Divine Constable: Bird in the Cage" from "Phantom Divine Constable," and the derivative short drama "Si Ming · Sheng Yuan" sharing the same worldview as "Love Between Fairy and Devil." Second, combining top artists with diverse genres to strengthen emotional expression and user resonance, with works such as "Wind Rises in Citong City," "Masked Confession," "This Official Is Here," "Thorny Love," and "Wild Love Locked Heart" set to launch successively. Third, advancing serialized development of AIGC dramas. After the first season of "The Last Taoist Priest" achieved strong results during the summer season, the second season will also accelerate its launch, and the comic drama "The Winner Is Unrivaled," adapted from Butterfly Orchid's novel of the same name, will also meet audiences as soon as possible.
Variety Shows Return to Authenticity and Empathy, Responding to Happiness Expectations with Certain Supply
iQiyi Vice President Dong Xuanyu introduced that variety shows will take authenticity as their foundation and empathy as their connection, bringing happiness and companionship to young people. In terms of content, the strategy will be led by top-tier programs with tiered layout, focusing on four major main tracks: gaming and entertainment, life experience, language and opinions, and talent competition, while moderately expanding into two auxiliary tracks: life and emotion, and lifestyle. At the same time, iQiyi will strengthen advance planning, improve the stability and certainty of annual content supply, achieve quarterly balance and stable scheduling of variety content, and continuously bring happiness to users throughout the year.
Premium returning variety shows are the foundation of iQiyi's long-term variety operations. Multiple mature IPs are making major comebacks. Travel programs "Hahaha 7," "Blossoms Along the Way 3," and "The Universe Twinkles Please Note 2" will launch successively, keeping the fun going without interruption. Food program "Genius Chef 2" reignites the stove. "The King of Comedy Stand-Up Season 4" and "The Rap of China 2027" continue to build momentum on the comedy and rap stages respectively. "Mr. Housework 2027" and "Hello Farming Youth 4" continue to deepen life experience. The summer season dark horse variety show "Big Brother's Little Assistant" will also launch its second season.
Innovative programs open up new increments in the variety track. Among them, the original national comedy variety IP "Annual Laughter Convention," created jointly by iQiyi and Mahua FunAge, will explore new expressions combining diverse comedy genres with live-action documentary. "A Group of Female Disciples Arrives at Mount Emei" uses real life and shared growth as its entry point, showcasing women's transformation through challenges and tempering. "Flower-like Brothers — Macbeth Journey" forms a group of acquaintances, connecting theatrical creation with real travel experiences through cross-border research trips. New works such as "Wildfire Youth," "Sooner or Later You'll Fall in Love with Me," and "Keep Having Fun, Keep Charging Forward" will also meet audiences successively.
iQiyi has also partnered with Douyin to launch a "Variety Venture Plan," expanding premium variety content supply and discovering emerging creative forces. Both parties will jointly provide funding, platform resources, and professional support to incubate premium short variety content for the entire industry, supporting diverse content forms including live-action shooting and AI creation. By integrating creative incubation, content production, and platform resources, the plan aims to accelerate the emergence of new creators, new IPs, and new content forms. The 2026 iQiyi Scream Night will be held on December 5 in Macau. Dong Xuanyu and Galaxy Entertainment Group Executive Vice President Jiang Liduo jointly announced that the 2026 iQiyi Scream Night is officially set for December 5, with the event taking place at Galaxy Arena in Macau, China. Building on the deep strategic cooperation previously reached between the two parties, from 2026 to 2028, iQiyi Scream Night will reside at Galaxy Arena in Macau, China for a second consecutive three-year term. As iQiyi's annual benchmark entertainment gala, iQiyi Scream Night has become an important IP for taking stock of annual entertainment achievements, reviewing annual industry hotspots, and paying tribute to premium content and creators.
Film: "Three-Stage Rocket Plan" Advances Across the Board, AI Feature Films Complete the Loop from Creation to Commerce
Liu Huangfu introduced that iQiyi continues to deepen its film "Three-Stage Rocket Plan." The "Blockbuster Plan" creates top-tier theatrical films, the "Pre-Breakout Plan" supports pioneering creators in exploring genre innovation, and the "Prairie Fire Plan" helps new creators and new works efficiently reach audiences through the internet at low cost. This year, iQiyi partnered with Oscar winner Peter Pau to launch "Peter Pau · iQiyi Film Theater," promoting AIGC from short film experimentation to commercial feature film creation. Under iQiyi's "Blockbuster Plan," "Chasing the Wind 2" is about to start filming, with director Yang Zi returning with the original cast; the predecessor "Chasing the Wind" has grossed over 1.2 billion yuan at the mainland box office. Ma Boyong's classic IP adaptations "The Longest Day in Chang'an" and "The Foodie," as well as realistic crime-themed "Under Fourteen" and "Pulling Thorns," will successively hit theaters. In addition, the theatrical film "Death Zone Record" has been scheduled for nationwide release on September 25. Works from the "Pre-Breakout Plan" including "Cup Snow: Fame in One Battle" and "Joyful Nightmare" will also meet audiences successively. The "Prairie Fire Plan" has launched 27 works since last December, and the latest slate adds 10 more titles to its content reserves. "Peter Pau · iQiyi Film Theater" released multiple AIGC feature films at this event, covering adventure, suspense, action, modern romance, animation, and other genres. The theater selected 9 projects from over 100 global submissions to enter full production, with Peter Pau participating throughout in guidance and quality control. The commercial value of AIGC feature films has been validated by the market. The first two installments of the "Soul Ferry" "Floating Life Dream" series of AIGC online story films — "Soul Ferry: Butterfly Dream" and "Soul Ferry: Heavenly Maiden's Dream" — launched on August 22, recouping production costs for both films within the first week, with cumulative revenue-sharing box office exceeding 8 million yuan in the first month. The third work in the series, "Soul Ferry: Princess's Dream," has also entered post-production.
Multi-Industry Expansion, Covering More Interest Circles
In animation, children's content, documentaries, sports, and other fields, iQiyi continues to enrich content supply, further covering more interest circles and meeting diverse content needs. In animation, iQiyi will strengthen annual and seasonal series supply, precisely targeting young users' "high-energy thrill points." The annual series matrix continues to expand, with "Way of Choices" officially upgraded to an annual series, and "One Sword Supreme Annual Series," "Yuan Zun Annual Series," and "I Am Not a Drama God Annual Series" also set to launch. Among them, "I Am Not a Drama God Annual Series" opens up new high-concept space with apocalyptic superpowers, opera elements, and ensemble narrative. Premium seasonal series "The Visitor" is also about to launch, expanding the boundaries of Chinese animation imagination with interstellar science fiction, mecha battles, and Chinese-style martial arts.
Children's content will strengthen premium self-produced IPs and creator ecosystem. On the premium self-produced IP front, "Invincible Deer Squad," "Magical Transformation Girl," "Little Chef Meow Food Truck," and "Little Panda Great Detective" will release sequels, and the brand-new Chinese-style mecha animation "Armored Martial God" is also about to launch. On the creator ecosystem front, iQiyi will collaborate with over 300 professional institutions and tens of thousands of creators, and through the "IP Co-Creation Plan" will open platform IP assets to support creators in AI creation and share commercial revenue, with multiple co-created derivative works set to launch this year.
In documentaries, iQiyi adheres to a dual-track layout of "live-action + AI empowerment." Live-action documentary works will focus on the warmth of everyday life and a "sense of living people," with content such as "Chinese Flavors of the World" Season 2, "Just So, I Am Female," and "Learning History Through the Lens" set to launch successively. On the AI works front, iQiyi will expand into historical and cultural themed creation that does not require live-action shooting, launching innovative works such as "Late Qing 'Top-Stream' Famous Ministers," "Talking About Chinese History Right Away," and "Fengyue Jinlian: A Murdered Life."
iQiyi Sports continues to lock in top global event IPs. Currently, iQiyi Sports has renewed its strategic exclusive partnership with UEFA through 2031, with the platform including multiple top Asian and European football events, while also covering tennis and golf grand slams and other heavyweight events, continuously meeting users' diverse viewing needs.
Upgrading Marketing System, Connecting Brand Growth Pathways
New data capabilities in the AI era make the relationship between brand advertising and business results clearer. At the conference, iQiyi's General Manager of Advertising Strategy and Marketing, Wang Kaihang, introduced that iQiyi partnered with Miaozhen to release the "Content Touchpoint Value Research Report" focusing on the full-link value of brand advertising to business, answering for the first time through full-link data insights questions that brand owners commonly care about, such as "how long does advertising take to bring conversion to business," "how do brand and performance advertising coordinate," and "how to scientifically evaluate the long-term value of brand advertising."
New data capabilities also allow brands to see incremental space beyond mobile devices. Wang Kaihang introduced that iQiyi launched the industry's first big data marketing system applicable to home terminals — "Ba Tai Qian Tong." Unlike traditional systems mainly built on individual behavior and short-term needs, "Ba Tai Qian Tong" identifies individual needs while further judging the long-term needs of families and groups, and relies on long-accumulated data including membership systems, multi-device behavior, and content preferences to build a brand-new tag system covering family structure, family consumption, life stage, lifestyle, and work status.
How to achieve true "thousands of people, thousands of faces"? Relying on the creator ecosystem, Nadou Pro, and platform content assets, iQiyi can extend AI capabilities from AIGC advertising material generation to large-scale plot placement, driving brand marketing from "cost reduction" further toward "efficiency improvement." The conference also announced five iJOY AWARDS honors — Best Long-Term Operation, Best IP Co-Creation, Best Breakout, Best Innovation Leadership, and Core Agency Company — with a total of 45 brands and 16 agencies winning awards. Representatives from brand owners, agencies, industry partners, and media gathered together to witness the marketing achievements of iQiyi and its partners through long-term co-creation.
AI toward new, striving forward. In the future, iQiyi will continue to drive content and marketing innovation with AI, joining hands with creators, brands, and industry partners to build a more open content ecosystem and jointly expand new space for high-quality growth.