iQIYI's Nadou Pro Is China's First Production-Grade AI Film Agent, And The Global Rollout Lands In May

China Just Shipped A Real AI Film Agent

On April 20 and 21, 2026, iQIYI held its World Conference 2026 in Beijing and officially launched Nadou Pro, the first production-grade AI agent built specifically for professional film and TV work out of China. Nadou Pro is not another text-to-video novelty. It is an end-to-end^✦ workflow platform that integrates scriptwriting, directing, visual design, editing, and distribution under one commercial harness, with nearly 70 AI agents working in concert.

What Nadou Pro Actually Does

The platform orchestrates a chain of specialist AI agents across the film production cycle.

A script agent drafts and iterates screenplay beats. A director agent proposes shot lists and coverage. A visual design agent generates storyboards and concept frames.

A series of video-generation agents, including Kling, WAN, SeeDance, Vidu, Hailuo, and iQIYI's own QiZhi model, produce shots. Editing and assembly agents handle cut, colour, and mix.

The output is a professional-grade short or mid-form series, not a TikTok clip.

The Commercial Hook

The platform launch is not just a tech demo. iQIYI is offering a 20% subsidy on revenue share for AI-generated mid-form series meeting a length threshold, through the end of 2026. That is a direct bid to pull independent creators and small studios into iQIYI's distribution and monetisation pipeline, and away from the YouTube plus TikTok plus Bilibili patchwork that most Asian AI creators currently navigate.

Nadou Pro is built specifically for AI creators and filmmakers, integrating creation, production, and distribution into one seamless, intelligent workflow. Our goal is simple: to make AI the most powerful creative engine in professional filmmaking—where imagination is the only limit.

Nadou Pro's core goal is lowering creation barriers without compromising quality. It enables talented creators to overcome technical and resource barriers, transforming ideas into professional-grade works while unifying the full chain from ideation to production, distribution, and monetization – all within one platform.

How The Global Rollout Will Work

iQIYI confirmed that the English-language version of Nadou Pro will launch in mid-May 2026, with Portuguese next, and subsequent multilingual support following.

That sequencing matters. English unlocks Southeast Asian creators in the Philippines, Singapore, and Malaysia.

Portuguese targets Brazil, where iQIYI's streaming share has grown quickly. Subsequent languages will likely prioritise Bahasa Indonesia, Japanese, Korean, and Arabic, reflecting iQIYI's distribution footprint.

Why This Matters For Asian Creators

Three things about Nadou Pro should capture Asian creator attention. First, the IP library integration: creators can draw on iQIYI's licensed assets and talent network rather than building a creative stack from scratch. Second, the direct monetisation path: Nadou Pro outputs flow natively into iQIYI's distribution, cutting the steps between generating and getting paid. Third, the Chinese-model stack: QiZhi, WAN, Kling, SeeDance, Vidu, and Hailuo give creators a production-grade video toolchain without routing through US-only vendors.

The Competitive Picture

Nadou Pro enters a rapidly crowding space. Runway Gen-4, Sora 2, Pika 2, and Luma Dream Machine have strong Western mindshare.

But Nadou Pro is the first to bundle generation with distribution and monetisation at studio scale.

In the Asian market specifically, it competes against Alibaba's Tongyi Wanxiang, ByteDance's Jimeng, and Tencent's Hunyuan Video. The distinguishing feature is Nadou Pro's platform integration: production agents plus a paid distribution channel, not just a model or a tool.

A Signal About Asian AI Creative Platforms

The Nadou Pro launch also says something about where Chinese AI platforms are going. The Japan Times covered parallel tensions over AI actor databases and public backlash in China, which means Nadou Pro lands into a more scrutinised regulatory environment than AI video tools enjoyed in 2024. iQIYI is effectively betting that consolidating professional creative AI inside a known streaming brand is a safer regulatory posture than the wild-west model marketplace approach, and for now it is probably right.

What To Watch In The Next 90 Days

• How many international creators actually enrol in the 20% subsidy between mid-May and late July 2026.
• Whether Nadou Pro's English rollout triggers licensing or platform responses from Runway^✦, Pika, or OpenAI's Sora team.
• Which Southeast Asian streaming platforms, including iflix successors and Viu, respond with their own AI creative agents.
• Whether Beijing's regulators impose additional labelling or actor-consent rules on AI-generated mid-form series distributed through major streaming platforms.

What This Means For Non-Chinese Asian Creators

Southeast Asian, Japanese, and Korean creators have been waiting for a platform that treats AI video as a full production workflow rather than a single generation step. Nadou Pro is not that platform for them today, because the distribution pipeline is iQIYI-centric and monetisation still flows through Chinese channels. But the platform is the most complete architectural template yet of what professional AI filmmaking can look like. Expect regional platforms like Viu and HBO Max Asia to respond, either with their own agent stacks or by licensing Nadou Pro's orchestration layer under the hood.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is iQIYI Nadou Pro?

Nadou Pro is iQIYI's production-grade AI agent platform for professional film and television work, launched at iQIYI World Conference 2026. It integrates nearly 70 AI agents across scripting, directing, visual design, editing, and distribution into a single workflow with an embedded monetisation path.

Which AI models power Nadou Pro?

Nadou Pro orchestrates multiple Chinese video generation models, including iQIYI's own QiZhi, along with Kling, WAN, SeeDance, Vidu, and Hailuo. This multi-model architecture lets creators select the best generator for each scene type.

When is the international English version available?

iQIYI has confirmed the English-language international version of Nadou Pro will launch in mid-May 2026, with Portuguese as the next language. Further languages including Bahasa, Japanese, Korean, and Arabic are expected to follow.

What is the 20% creator subsidy?

Through the end of 2026, qualifying AI-generated mid-form series on Nadou Pro that meet length thresholds of at least five minutes per episode and sixty minutes in total receive a 20% revenue-sharing subsidy from iQIYI, on top of their standard platform payout.

Closing

Nadou Pro is the clearest sign that Asian AI creative platforms are moving from tool to workflow to paid distribution. Will you test the English launch in May? Drop your take in the comments below.