China’s AI video industry is creating an unexpected new side hustle: licensing your face. Platforms such as ActID and New Claw are paying people to let producers use AI-generated versions of their likenesses in films, advertisements, and short-form videos. Rather than hiring performers for every shoot, creators can license pre-approved digital identities that can be reused across multiple projects. The business model aims to offer a consent-based alternative to unauthorized deepfakes, but it also raises difficult questions about how biometric identity should be owned, protected, and monetized as generative AI becomes more capable. Rest of World reports that in the first three months of 2026, over 95% of the 128,000 microdramas released in China featured AI, fueling backlash over the nonconsensual use of images and the eventual emergence of face-licensing platforms. Microdramas are short-form serialized videos—typically just a few minutes per episode—that have become hugely popular on Chinese social media platforms. Their low production costs and rapid release schedules have made them an increasingly attractive use case for generative AI. How does this even work? …