🔥 Trending Xu Peng's Career Change: From Actor to Vegetable Seller Amidst AI's Impact on Ch

Xu Peng is a Chinese actor who has recently gained attention for transitioning from his acting career to selling vegetables in his hometown due to the impact of artificial intelligence (AI) on the entertainment industry ¹³⁷.

Who is Xu Peng?

Xu Peng is a Chinese actor born on May 13, 1996, in Qingdao, Shandong Province ²⁴. He is 30 years old as of 2026 ¹². He graduated from the Central Academy of Drama, a prestigious institution for performing arts in China ⁴⁶.

Throughout his career, Xu Peng has appeared in various television series. Some of his notable roles include:

• Cang Yue Xing Lan (2026) ²
• Who is the Liar (2025) ²
• Blood River (2025) ²
• Choose One of Four (2024) ²
• Tender Light (2024) ²
• A Journey to Love (2023) ²
• The Truth of Scent (2023) ²
• The Legend of Zhuo ²
• My Brother... (2018) ⁶

He was reportedly booked and busy in his acting career before the recent shift ³.

His Career Change and Its Reasons

Earlier in 2026, Xu Peng made the decision to step away from his acting career and return to his rural hometown in Shandong to sell vegetables at a local market ¹³⁵. This significant career change was largely driven by the increasing dominance of artificial intelligence (AI) in China's entertainment industry, particularly in the short drama sector ⁵⁷.

Impact of AI on the Industry

The rise of AI-generated short dramas has drastically reduced opportunities for human actors. According to reports, AI-generated content now accounts for over 95% of new releases in this market segment ⁷. This saturation by AI has led to a severe decline in available acting jobs for human performers like Xu Peng ¹³⁷.

Personal Decision

After completing his final short drama earlier in 2026, Xu Peng left Hengdian in Zhejiang Province, a major hub for China's film and television production, to return to his hometown ³. While some reports initially suggested he retired at 29 to take over his grandfather's business ⁸⁹, the prevailing and more detailed accounts indicate the primary driver was the lack of acting jobs due to AI ¹³⁷. His story has sparked widespread debate about the future of human involvement in the entertainment industry and the sustainability of careers for new actors ⁵⁹¹⁰.