Concern is growing within China’s AI industry about its competitiveness in large language models, with some firms seeking a breakthrough in video-generation AI. Liu Wei, who led Tencent’s Hunyuan generative AI model team, cited a lack of paradigm innovation and said Chinese companies are copying U.S. approaches in core technologies. He estimated the U.S.-China gap at at least 3 months and warned it could widen to 6 months this year.

Media companies are expanding experiments using AI, with a focus on cutting production costs, developing new genres and improving user experience. Video tools now generate longer 4K content with audio and better character consistency. Broadcasters and studios are testing AI in election coverage, animation and drama, while China pushes commercialisation. In distribution, recommendation algorithms and AI dubbing are becoming core infrastructure. The shift is also raising concerns over copyright, creator protection and review standards.