In China, people are renting out their faces to AI -…

A new industry has emerged in China where individuals can license their faces for use in AI-generated media, creating a marketplace where likenesses are bought and sold for as little as $15. This trend coincides with the rapid expansion of the microdrama industry, where over 95% of the 128,000 series released in early 2026 utilized AI production techniques.

What happened

Online platforms have developed catalogs allowing producers to filter candidates by gender, age, and archetypes like "supermodel" or "girl-next-door." While companies such as ActID and New Claw facilitate these agreements to provide legal frameworks for digital likenesses, the sector faces significant controversy regarding consent and intellectual property. ByteDance’s AI drama platform, Hongguo, was specifically accused by two influencers of unauthorized use of their faces, leading to the removal of a minidrama that had garnered over 40 million views. ByteDance has since reported removing more than 85,000 videos involving unauthorized AI-generated reproductions of faces and voices.

Legal experts note that while these platforms offer a potential commercial structure, they fail to mitigate risks regarding the long-term control of biometric data. Vague licensing contracts and the persistent threat of unauthorized face-swapping remain primary concerns. The Guangzhou Internet Court has processed approximately 700 AI-related face theft cases in three years, and a March 2026 ruling by the Beijing Internet Court established that using a person’s likeness in AI-generated face swaps without authorization is illegal, regardless of whether the image has been modified. Despite the emergence of these licensing marketplaces, critics like model Xu Fang argue that selling the rights to one's face remains risky, citing potential for the data to be used in degrading ways that the original subjects cannot control.