A new market is gaining traction in China, where individuals are selling the rights to use their appearance in AI-generated content. Users can earn between $15 and $700 for 'renting out' their face, depending on the terms of the deal, the type of appearance, and the intended use.
This business has emerged amid the rapid growth of short vertical dramas, where AI technologies are increasingly used to create characters. According to industry research, around 128,000 such projects were released in China in the first quarter of 2026, most of which were produced using artificial intelligence.
Platforms like ActID and New Claw are building catalogs of faces, categorizing users by age, gender, and appearance type. This allows producers to use real likenesses for AI characters, reducing production costs and making digital heroes more diverse. To regulate the market, these services set minimum payouts—starting at 500 yuan (about $74) per image—and offer legal support for transactions.
At the same time, cases of unauthorized use of people's likenesses are on the rise. Hongguo, a platform owned by ByteDance (which also owns TikTok), has removed over 85,000 videos featuring faces and voices used without permission since the start of the year. The Guangzhou Internet Court has handled around 700 similar cases in the past three years. In March 2026, the Beijing Internet Court ruled that AI-based face-swapping without the owner's consent is illegal, even if the image has been significantly altered digitally.
Despite companies' efforts to make the market more transparent, experts believe the digital face industry is still evolving faster than the rules governing it. In the coming years, such deals may become a common part of the AI industry, but the question of who can control the use of human likenesses—and for how long—remains open.
Earlier, an online scandal erupted over Microsoft's hidden installation of OneDrive Photos on Windows 11 devices. Users reported that the app scans photos on the hard drive using facial recognition without prior consent, and its removal is difficult due to deep integration with the company's services.
Source: podrobno.uz