iQIYI Fires Up Growth Engines with Decentralized Creator Ecosystem and AI-Powered Content Revolution
China's leading online entertainment company, iQIYI Inc., has taken significant strides in its second quarter 2026 earnings, solidifying its position as a powerhouse in the industry. During the conference call on August 18, 2026, CEO Yu Gong and other top executives highlighted the company's strategic transformation into a decentralized creator and user-centric social media ecosystem.
One of the key drivers behind this shift is the potential of Artificial Intelligence (AI) to revolutionize content creation. As Mr. Gong noted, AI can dramatically lower the cost and barrier to content creation, turning it from a niche professional activity into a mass capability. This has triggered an unparalleled surge in content supply, which the company is now upgrading its acquisition and distribution mechanisms to efficiently connect creators and audiences.
iQIYI's guiding principle remains clear: maximizing cost efficiency without compromising quality. The two pillars of this strategy – decentralization and AI-powered content creation – are reinforcing each other like a flywheel. AI drives rapid growth in content supply, which helps the company move faster toward a decentralized model. As the platform becomes more decentralized, more creators can participate, users get more engaged, and the overall strength of the platform increases.
In the second quarter, both strategies started showing measurable results. The company's core creator hub, the iQIYI Creator Center, was refreshed in April, leading to promising early signs. The number of creators and uploads are trending higher, with various types of content seeing significant growth – daily average number of uploaded works increased by 30% to 500% compared to the first quarter.
Looking ahead, more long-form video categories will join the decentralized content ecosystem as iQIYI preserves its premium content advantage. The company will broaden its content slate by adopting lighter and more flexible content acquisition models. On content production, AI is substantially optimizing production efficiency and cost structure – for example, AI helped achieve a tenfold leap in rough cut efficiency in their original series "Her Prime" Season 2, "Jie Jie Dang Jia."
The company's financial performance also improved quarter-over-quarter, with total revenues growing sequentially and the non-GAAP operating loss narrowing substantially. iQIYI is fully embracing its strategic transformation, setting it up for structural improvements in content costs, revenue quality, profitability, and cash flow.
