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Artificial intelligence
TechPolicy

State TV airs China’s first AI-developed cartoon series, Qianqiu Shisong, as Sora sets off frenzy for text-to-video generation tech

  • The 26-episode series, which debuted on Monday, is produced using GenAI models from China Media Group and Shanghai AI Laboratory
  • China’s state asset manager held a seminar last week to promote the development and use of AI across central state-owned enterprises

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State broadcaster China Media Group aired the country’s first cartoon series made with the help of generative artificial intelligence services. Photo: Handout
Ben Jiangin Beijing
State broadcaster China Media Group has started airing the country’s first cartoon series made with the help of generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) services, including text-to-video tools similar to OpenAI’s Sora, as the government calls on state-owned firms to pilot the use of AI in their businesses.

The 26-episode series, Qianqiu Shisong, which debuted on Monday, features some of the most fabled classical Chinese poetry and their backstories, with each instalment lasting around 7 minutes, according to a statement published on the WeChat account of the Shanghai Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (SAIL).

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Chinese AI-generated cartoon series broadcast on state television

Chinese AI-generated cartoon series broadcast on state television

GenAI – including China Media’s CMG Media GPT, a model trained using the broadcaster’s vast trove of video and audio materials and SAIL’s AI technology – was used in every stage of Qianqiu Shisong’s production process, from art design to video generation and post-production, SAIL said.

CMG Media GPT was trained by feeding it with a large amount of data, enabling it to generate artwork and animated scenes that embody the style of traditional Chinese ink-wash paintings and conform with the architecture design and appearance of people from ancient times.

“The CMG Media GPT provides animation producers with a low-cost and efficient concept-design tool for character and scene designs,” SAIL said in the statement.

Qianqiu Shisong came after the state broadcaster pledged to fully adopt the new technology.

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