Tencent grants access to Yuanbao search for developers to create AI models and agents

The Chinese market for serialized mobile entertainment is expanding due to the emergence of new distribution channels, including services featuring AI-generated content. Tencent introduced Lüpaopao—a free short drama service within WeChat that offers both AI-generated series and live and animated projects.

Concurrently, ByteDance's Hongguo platform reached 168 million daily active users in July, representing a 107% increase compared to the previous year. These figures, according to QuestMobile data cited in a Nomura study published by TechWeb, surpassed the combined audience of four leading Chinese professionally produced drama and show services: Tencent Video, iQiyi, Youku, and Mango TV. Hongguo's scale places free, ad-supported short dramas in direct competition with established streaming platforms for daily viewing time.

Significance of this Phenomenon

Both specialized drama applications and social platforms are contributing to the growth of this format. The increasing supply of AI-created series in China is developing against a backdrop of growing international demand for short, serialized content.

According to a Sensor Tower report, the average daily usage time for short drama apps globally was 25 minutes in April 2026, an 85% increase from January 2025. Meanwhile, traditional streaming service usage remained relatively stable at around 35 minutes, while consumption of short dramas in Southeast Asia approached 40 minutes.

Implementation details include integrating free viewing, social discovery, and AI-produced content across various products and distribution channels. Hongguo functions as a standalone platform for free dramas, whereas Lüpaopao is integrated into WeChat, offering recommendations based on friend activity and a floating window playback feature allowing users to continue watching while replying to messages.

AI-generated dramas are also attracting viewers in short video feeds. According to DataEye's September ranking, 76.46 billion additional views were recorded for AI and animated dramas in the top 100 on Douyin; nineteen titles garnered over a billion views each, compared to five in August.

Internationally, Holywater Tech, a company based in Ukraine, manages the services My Drama (live shoots), My Muse (AI series platform), and Freebits (ad-supported). Their portfolio demonstrates the development of AI programs parallel to film production, with free viewing also being part of the international market.

In the global market context, it is noted that downloads of short drama applications are growing faster than consumer spending, with emerging markets accounting for the largest share. Sensor Tower estimated that in the first quarter of 2026 worldwide, short drama app downloads increased by 140% year-over-year, while revenue from in-app purchases grew by 20%. Southeast Asia, Latin America, and India together accounted for over three-quarters of all downloads.

Paid content remains significant: DramaBox and ReelShort each generated nearly $140 million in in-app purchase revenue in the first quarter. Ad-supported services are also expanding, such as Melolo, which is growing its audience in Indonesia, according to Sensor Tower.

Social video continues to play a role in the distribution chain. According to an Ampere Analysis survey from 2025, 44% of mini-drama viewers on social media watched them on YouTube, and 38% watched them on TikTok. Producers use these platforms both to distribute full series and to promote episodes, directing viewers to specialized drama apps.

Tencent has announced the closure of Yuanqi, a platform designed for creating and distributing AI agents without requiring coding. According to a notice dated October 8, the service will cease functioning on November 9, 2026, and the company did not provide additional reasons for this decision, citing business process adjustments.

The shutdown process will be phased. Starting October 29, users will no longer be able to create new agents or obtain API keys, but existing agents will continue to operate until the specified service termination date. On November 9, Tencent will completely disable access to applications, data read and write operations, API calls, and the developer console. Yuanqi agent pages will stop displaying, and agents published via Yuanqi to other channels, including official WeChat Accounts, Service Accounts, and WeChat Customer Support, will cease responding to users.

Tencent strongly recommends that users promptly export their data and migrate. Until November 9, the platform's export tool allows for local saving of agent configurations, workflows, and conversation logs. After this date, a transition period will begin, lasting until January 9, 2027. During this time, users will be able to log into the data export console to upload backups, even if the rest of the platform is closed. Starting January 9, Tencent plans to delete all user data, except for logs and records required by law.

The Yuanqi platform was introduced at the Tencent Cloud Generative AI Summit on May 17, 2024, as a comprehensive solution for agent development and distribution. Its main advantage was its low barrier to entry: users could create agents using prompts, plugins, workflows, and AI assistance without resorting to coding. They could utilize pre-integrated plugins and knowledge bases from the Tencent ecosystem, browse the agent store, and publish ready-made agents in Tencent channels such as QQ, WeChat Customer Support, Tencent Cloud, and Search.

The closure of Yuanqi eliminates one of the avenues Tencent offered small businesses and content creators to integrate chatbots into WeChat accounts. Operators who relied on such bots for customer inquiries now have about four weeks to recreate them elsewhere before message responses stop coming through.

Furthermore, this occurs as Tencent's agent focus shifts towards products developed internally by the company, such as the WorkBuddy office agent and a series of vertical agents integrated into proprietary applications. Tencent has not yet announced whether any subsequent service will replace Yuanqi's distribution function.