AI helping to redefine entrepreneurship

Across China, the rapid rise of one-person companies, or OPCs, empowered by artificial intelligence tools and strong ecosystem support, is reshaping entrepreneurship, as innovators leverage AI as a virtual team to drive business creation and growth.

According to a recent report by the Zhongguancun Talent Association in Beijing, metropolises such as Beijing, Shanghai and Shenzhen in Guangdong province have increasingly become the top choices for OPCs, particularly in local science and technology parks. The popularization of AI technology, government support and a talent pool are among the major factors attracting one-person companies and helping them grow.

Dong Bo, president of Kr Star Innovation, operator of the ZGC AI North Latitude Hub, which is an AI development hub in Beijing's Haidian district, described the hub as an enterprise cluster providing a supportive ecology for high-tech businesses. Its mission is to help integrate AI-driven companies, tech media, developers and tool-chain providers — entities that offer comprehensive suites of tools for building and managing AI applications.

The hub currently hosts 20 OPCs, whose entrepreneurs mainly come from domestic and foreign universities and technology enterprises.

One of the hub's members is Wu Zhen, a 44-year-old entrepreneur. He joined in January as the founder of an intelligent virtual performance platform.

Initially serving as a cross-city, cross-cultural digital performance solution during the pandemic, the platform now supports a wide range of applications, including stage-based educational courses, motion capture, AI-generated short films and AI virtual idols.

According to Wu, AI acts as a round-the-clock virtual team that plays a significant role in copywriting, content generation, visual and video creation, and basic software and web development. AI also adapts content for cultural tourism scenarios, such as AI-generated content light shows.

"In the age of AI, what's truly scarce is judgment, aesthetic sensibility and long-term narrative vision. OPCs are not a transitional form. They may well remain a vital and dynamic organizational model for a long time," he said.

Wu himself exemplifies the rapid development of OPCs. The report also found that as of June 2025, the number of one-person limited liability companies, primarily in the digital economy and service industries, exceeded 16 million nationwide. The number of newly registered OPCs reached 2.86 million in the first half of 2025, surging 47 percent year-on-year.

As with cross-border e-commerce, the use of AI digital humans helped OPCs reduce labor costs by 70 percent and increase sales by 300 percent.

However, Wu said that one-person companies, including his own, struggle with the lack of stable order pipelines and revenue.

Li Xiaolei, head of the Institute of Regional and Industrial Research at the Guangdong Provincial Investigation and Research Center, suggested that the government adopt open competition to enable OPCs to undertake targeted projects and give them inclusive access to computing power and shared data.

In January, Shenzhen issued vouchers providing substantial financial support to OPCs and reducing entrepreneurial costs. The city is also addressing workspace and accommodation needs.