The Shift from Experimentation to Infrastructure Vivek Couto, CEO of Media Partners Asia, which produces the APOS conference, framed AI as having moved from a conference talking point to operational reality . JioHotstar illustrated the point concretely: the platform has deployed a conversational voice discovery feature built with OpenAI, with more than 60% of users now choosing voice over text for content discovery . This shift signals that AI is no longer being experimented with—it is being integrated into day-to-day workflows.
According to Bank of America analyst Jessica Reif Ehrlich, AI can be used as a powerful tool for efficiency and market expansion rather than a direct replacement for premium human creativity . In film and television, AI is already being deployed extensively behind the scenes. Studios are using AI for previsualization, storyboarding, marketing and analytics, scene extensions, and rotoscoping .
Amazon MGM Studios’ GenAI Creators’ Fund Amazon MGM Studios is at the forefront of AI adoption in Hollywood. The studio has announced the GenAI Creators’ Fund, which is providing funding and access to AI production tools to filmmakers, digital creators and tech startups for developing premium TV shows and movies . The studio is teaming with Amazon Web Services (AWS) to launch what they claim will be the industry’s first purpose-built AI production platform for visual storytelling, codenamed Project Nara .
Under the GenAI Creators’ Fund, the studio has greenlit three animated series for Prime Video: “Punky Duck” from Jorge R. Gutierrez, “Love, Diana Music Hunters” from Albie Hecht at pocket.watch, and “Cupcake & Friends” from BuzzFeed Studios . The grants are for creators to make proof-of-concept pilots and shorts; the studio then decides which of those to greenlight into full projects .
“The most important thing to remember is, we’re human-centric,” said Albert Cheng, Amazon MGM Studios’ chief operating officer. “AI tools are meant to empower human creativity, and allow TV shows and movies that would not have been possible before” .
Amazon’s approach is unique because it combines the roles of studio and technology company, creating an end-to-end AI content creation ecosystem spanning from infrastructure to creative tools to distribution and funding of creative content .
iQIYI’s AI-Driven Transformation In China, leading online entertainment platform iQIYI is pursuing an even more ambitious AI strategy. At its World Conference 2026, the company officially launched Nadou Pro, a professional-grade AI content production platform that integrates nearly 70 AI agents across the entire production pipeline—from scriptwriting and directing to visual design and editing .
According to Gong Yu, founder and CEO of iQIYI, “In the past, technology first changed distribution, then content. This time, AI is directly changing content itself” . By significantly reducing production costs and shortening development cycles, AI is lowering barriers to entry and enabling the rise of one-person studios and super-individual creators .
The platform offers two collaboration models: a “one person company” mode, in which a single creator uses multiple AI agents to manage the entire production process, and a team-based mode that enables collaboration between humans and AI within the same workflow . More than 100 artists have already joined Nadou Pro’s talent library .
iQIYI expects a commercially viable AI-generated blockbuster as early as this summer or by autumn, and the company is also accelerating Nadou Pro’s global rollout, with an English-language version expected in mid-May .
BytePlus and the Asian AI Roundtable At APOS 2026, BytePlus, the enterprise technology arm of ByteDance, convened a private luncheon roundtable with senior executives from broadcasters, creators, and streaming platforms across six Asian markets to debate the operational impact of artificial intelligence on content production . Discussion focused on how generative AI tools—among them ByteDance’s Dreamina Seedance 2.0—are allowing media companies to expand creative output while improving productivity .
“Our aim is to provide partners with innovative, reliable AI solutions that enhance creative workflows and transform ideas into enterprise-ready production,” said Charlie Sung, head of global partnership and ecosystem at BytePlus. “AI solutions are not a substitute for creative vision; they are an instrument for realizing it more seamlessly and effectively” .
AI in the Korean Content Industry According to the Cine21 annual entertainment industry survey, more than 90% of Korean entertainment leaders described AI adoption as either positive or inevitable . Usage now spans the full production pipeline: from early development—script review, world-building, story consistency checks—through to post-production work such as VFX, color grading, and sound mixing . With production costs at record highs, AI-driven budget optimization has emerged as the primary driver of adoption across both studio and independent productions .
Balancing AI Benefits and Risks The benefits of AI must be balanced against significant risks. As Ehrlich notes, a surge of low-cost, AI-generated material could erode the value of premium entertainment and intensify competition for audience attention . AlixPartners also warns that while AI adoption in media will accelerate because business benefits are now concrete and proven, organizations must focus on governance, integration, and outcomes .
