How Chinese are renting out their faces to AI to make money

The Artificial Intelligence (AI) that took their jobs is now renting their faces for AI dramas and ads. This new marketplace is created by China’s booming AI-generated microdrama industry, where actors and models are renting their faces for AI shows, ads and games. Over 95 per cent of the 128,000 microdramas released during the first quarter of three months of 2026 used AI somewhere in their production, the Rest of World reported. The report also noted that the platform is paying people $15 (around Rs 1,433) to $700 (around Rs 66,916) to license their likeness for AI-generated content. As the…