Joey Wong Authorizes AI Likeness for NetEase Game Promo After 22-Year Retirement
Retired actress Joey Wong has authorized her AI likeness for a promotional short film titled "Qianying" for NetEase's game "Tianxia". The video recreates her classic youthful screen appearance, marking a unique digital return to the spotlight after a 22-year retirement. This collaboration highlights a growing trend of celebrity IP licensing for digital recreation and AI-generated content in the gaming and entertainment industries. It demonstrates how retired or aging actors can leverage AI technology to monetize and preserve their classic likenesses for new media. The short film was developed using NetEase Interactive Entertainment's DM Monet Canvas and ByteDance's Volcano Engine. This follows a similar trend in the industry, such as Hong Kong actor Lawrence Ng licensing his likeness to be recreated as a 20-year-old for an AI-generated film.
## BACKGROUND
AI likeness licensing involves public figures legally permitting companies to train AI models on their voice, face, or body to generate new digital content. Volcano Engine is ByteDance's enterprise cloud service platform that provides technical support for various AI and data applications. As digital human technology advances, the entertainment industry is increasingly exploring virtual actors and digital resurrection, raising new questions about intellectual property and actor compensation.