AI Short Drama "Huo Qu Bing" Goes Viral! Production Costs and Viewership Spark Debate. How Far Has the AI Web Drama Industry Advanced?

Recently, a short AI drama called “Huo Qubing,” which is claimed to have achieved 500 million views with only 3,000 yuan and produced in 48 hours by three people, suddenly went viral on social media, sparking public discussion. Aside from the content itself, the market is more interested in whether AI has already achieved such high productivity.

However, director Yang Hanhhan of “Huo Qubing” later clarified: the short drama does not have 80 episodes, only two versions of over 4 minutes and 6 minutes; the 3,000 yuan refers to computing power costs, excluding labor and other expenses; the “500 million views” figure comes from media sources, and since it cannot be accurately verified, the company relied on media data without rigorous statistics during promotion.

Although the actual data is not as exaggerated, Seedance 2.0, a representative video generation model, is rewriting the underlying logic of content production with low production costs and near-physical realism in generated effects. With technological support, AI short dramas are rapidly expanding their share of content, prompting major platforms to seize the new opportunity in the short drama sector.

AI Short Drama “Huo Qubing” Goes Viral; Controlled by Zhou Hongyi

Recently, some media reported that this AI short drama “Huo Qubing” has 80 episodes, directed by Yang Hanhhan. The production team includes only three people, including Yang Hanhhan, and it took less than 48 hours and under 3,000 yuan to produce this short drama with over 500 million views across the internet.

Subsequently, Yang Hanhhan clarified on his social media: the 3,000 yuan cost is only for computing power, not including labor and other costs; the team is not the “3 people” as rumored, but nearly 20 members; the “48 hours” production time does not include rest, only working hours.

According to Yang Hanhhan’s personal account, his team is the sole producer of the short drama “Huo Qubing,” mainly engaged in film, short dramas, AI digital humans, and full-process AI creation. The team completed all production steps using the “Nano Short Drama Assembly Line.”

Public information shows that the Nano Short Drama Assembly Line is the first industrial-grade AI short drama production platform launched by Qihoo 360, operated by Tianjin Zhiju Technology Co., Ltd., which is wholly owned by Beijing Qiyuan Technology Co., Ltd., with Zhou Hongyi as the actual controller.

Zhou Hongyi also commented on social media: “Seeing everyone discussing Nano Short Drama and the AI short drama ‘Huo Qubing’ produced by Director Yang Hanhhan, I believe that as AI technology matures, more high-quality works will emerge in the future.”

According to reports, the “Nano Short Drama Assembly Line” is a B-end productivity tool aimed at professional creators and film companies. Its core revenue model is tool service token consumption (i.e., the cost of computing power generated when creators invoke AI models on the platform). It is based on Qihoo 360’s self-developed “Nano Space Engine,” which, through fully automated processes, intelligent storyboarding, and nonlinear editing technology, addresses issues like scene inconsistencies common in traditional AI production. The platform officially opened for public testing on January 30.

Cost of AI Realistic Human Short Dramas

With the advent of models like Seedance 2.0, the production of AI short dramas has undergone a revolution. According to the pricing standards disclosed by Volcano Engine for its video generation large model Seedance 2.0, the cost for inputting video is 28 yuan per million tokens, and for pure video generation (no input video), it is 46 yuan per million tokens. A rough estimate suggests that pure video generation costs about 1 yuan per second.

Financial Associated Press learned that Seedance 2.0 has launched an enterprise version, which is limited in availability, and accessing the enterprise API requires at least 10 million yuan in usage threshold. Compared to the standard version, the enterprise version offers higher priority, faster response, and significantly improves short drama production efficiency.

Currently, AI short dramas mainly include genres like motion comics, 2D/3D comics, and AI realistic human dramas. Liu Zun, Director of Research at DataEye, told the Financial Associated Press that the main costs of AI realistic human dramas include computing power, labor, and copyright and compliance costs, with computing power accounting for the largest share, roughly 30%-50%.

“Computing power costs are now quite transparent; mainstream models are generally billed by duration,” Liu Zun said. The cost is about 1-3 yuan per second, with a 60-180 yuan cost for a one-minute video, plus 2 to 5 rounds of revisions. Overall, the cost of AI realistic human short dramas is approximately 2,000-6,000 yuan per minute, with high-quality content exceeding 10,000 yuan per minute.

Lü Shaolong, Vice General Manager of Lingju Animation, told the Financial Associated Press that the current cost of AI realistic human dramas is about 3,000 yuan per minute, with typical total durations around 100 minutes. Based on this, the cost of a single drama is roughly 300,000 yuan.

In terms of production cycle, it generally takes 35 to 40 days from script receipt to delivery for AI realistic human dramas. If the plot is complex, the timeline may extend accordingly.

Chen Junjie, Vice President of Shanghai New Union and head of Vector Planet, told the Financial Associated Press that with AI technology development, public demand for AI realistic human dramas has increased significantly. Major distribution platforms have greatly increased their procurement of AI realistic human dramas, while demand for traditional comics has declined, a clear trend.

Compared to motion comics and 2D/3D comics, AI realistic human dramas have higher production requirements, including “card drawing” (inputting prompts, instructions for start/end frames, etc., then waiting for AI to generate the final result). “For example, if we want to generate a scene: a young man in Han Dynasty armor fighting enemies in the desert. The generated result may differ from expectations, so we need to repeatedly ‘draw cards’ until satisfied,” Chen said.

Computing power is an unavoidable topic in AI short drama production. Each “card drawing” consumes computing resources, affecting efficiency, cost, and the quality of the final product. When Seedance 2.0 first launched, high computing demands caused long queues, posing industry-wide computing pressure. Chen admitted that integrating with industrial-grade interfaces is better for short drama companies, but as user numbers grow exponentially—from 10 million to 100 million—the computing bottleneck will reemerge.

More Entrants in AI Short Drama Market

AI short dramas are attracting more entrants. With Seedance 2.0 accelerating technological progress, AI realistic human drama production has become more convenient and efficient, quickly capturing user attention.

In February this year, Tencent launched its first standalone short drama app, Huolong Short Drama, and partnered with Chinese Online (300364.SZ) for drama licensing. Additionally, giants like ByteDance and Baidu have launched standalone drama apps, while Kuaishou, Bilibili, iQiyi, Youku, and Mango TV have also introduced drama channels.

According to DataEye, in January 2026, among the top 100 short dramas, the fastest-growing segment was AI realistic human dramas, with the top 100 penetration rate rising from 7% last year to 38%, totaling 2.548 billion views; in February, AI realistic human dramas accounted for nearly 60% of the top 100, becoming the mainstream.

Chen Junjie revealed that many companies are now entering this market, including traditional film companies, MCN agencies, and content platforms. “Companies with extensive copyrights have advantages—MCNs with influencer image copyrights, content platforms with proprietary rights. In the future, these virtual assets will be very important.”

Financial Associated Press found that several listed companies are deploying in the AI short drama sector. For example, Wanshing Technology (300624.SZ) launched the all-in-one AI short drama creation platform Wanshing Studio and began public testing in February; Chinese Online announced in January the launch of a full-stack AI content creation solution, “Dimension Pen,” integrating IP selection, storyboarding, character modeling, video generation, and intelligent dubbing; Zhangyue Technology (603533.SH) released in February the all-in-one AI short drama platform PopoMint, connected to its own and industry-wide copyright libraries, supporting various AI-generated content types like explainer videos, motion comics, and AI realistic dramas.

Liu Zun stated that with models like Seedance 2.0, creating short dramas by a single person has become a reality, representing a democratization of content creation. Ordinary people with creativity can participate, small teams can produce, and there are more opportunities for trial and error, making it easier to produce viral hits. In the long term, a group of super individual creators will emerge.

However, he also pointed out that current technology still has limitations: long videos and complex actions are not yet natural enough, leading to homogenization and template-like outputs. Ultimately, the quality of stories and creativity will determine success. Additionally, issues like compliance and copyright—such as portrait rights, music rights, and deep synthesis registration—must be taken seriously.

“Individuals can occasionally produce a hit, but continuous mass production is not feasible,” Chen Junjie believes. Unlike individual creators, short drama production companies often integrate multiple models to form customized intelligent agents, aiming to achieve the best results at the lowest cost. “For example, generating a scene with Lingling might cost 9 yuan; Haijiao might be cheaper, and if the effect is similar, we choose the more cost-effective option. For complex shots, we use top-tier models.”

Regarding the future of AI short dramas, Chen sees content creativity as the most important factor. The industry’s biggest bottleneck will still be talent; it needs people with strong thinking and aesthetic abilities. In the future, universities may offer courses like AI directing and screenwriting to address the large talent gap.

(Article source: Financial Associated Press)