China's 'Netflix' iQiyi pivots toward an aging population in an AI era

BEIJING — Chinese video streaming platform iQiyi is turning its attention to the country's aging population, while using artificial intelligence tools to bolster content production.

One of iQiyi's near-term goals is to improve the product offering for older users, CEO and founder Gong Yu said Tuesday at the company's annual conference.

"It seems simple but it's not, because in the past 10, 20 years the motto has been to serve young people, and not be traditional," he said in Mandarin, translated by CNBC.

He noted how users in their 40s or older are dropping off because increased screen time is accelerating eyesight deterioration, and it's harder for them to read small text. Gong also pointed to estimates that predict about one-fourth of China's population will be considered elderly in 2033, rising to one-third in 2053.

China is rapidly aging as fewer people have children and lifespans increase. Births have fallen despite Beijing's efforts in the last decade to unwind restrictions on households for one child each.

Fewer children, Gong said, means each child becomes more important. He said iQiyi would improve the quality of its content for children.

IQiyi is also tapping artificial intelligence tools for making content production more efficient.

Liu Wenfeng, iQiyi's chief technology officer, gave a speech at the Tuesday conference about "embracing AI." He showed off the company's tools for quickly imitating a multi-camera shot in a virtual environment, and described how the virtually created elements from clothes to buildings could be re-used or commercialized in a future metaverse.

Liu also said iQiyi's AI tools can significantly reduce the time spent analyzing novels for production-worthy stories, as well as detect which parts