As artificial intelligence tools become cheaper, smarter and easier to use, they are helping more Chinese entrepreneurs turn personal expertise and online followings into one-person companies (OPCs), building lean businesses powered by digital platforms and AI-driven productivity.

随着人工智能工具变得更实惠、更智能、更易用，越来越多的中国创业者正借助AI，将个人专长与线上粉丝转化为“一人公司”，构建以数字平台和AI驱动的生产力为支撑的轻量化商业模式。

For Wang Yao, founder of an OPC built around her online personal channel "Wiley", the appeal lies not in scale, but in flexibility and low risk.

王瑶（网名“Wiley”）就是一位围绕个人线上频道打造“一人公司”的创业者。对她而言，这种模式的吸引力不在于规模，而在于灵活性和低风险。

Through social media content sharing personal growth, life abroad and cost-effective ways to improve productivity, Wang's channel has attracted over 100,000 followers on Chinese social media platform Xiaohongshu, and has built a business centered on consulting services and brand partnerships.

王瑶通过社交媒体分享个人成长、海外生活以及高性价比的提升效率方法，其频道在中国社交平台小红书上吸引了超过10万粉丝，并围绕咨询服务和品牌合作构建了商业模式。

"The company operates in a very healthy way because it has zero debt, low costs and high flexibility," Wang said, describing her business model as the monetization of "trust-based traffic".

“公司运营非常健康，因为它零负债、低成本、高灵活性，”王瑶说，她的商业模式就是将“信任流量”变现。

Wang said more people are beginning to realize that entrepreneurship no longer necessarily requires large teams, venture capital or corporate backing.

王瑶表示，越来越多的人开始意识到，创业不再必然需要庞大的团队、风险投资或企业背书。

"People are gradually discovering that you don't have to join a major company or pursue fundraising and IPOs," she said. "One person can still build a decent business through their own skills and influence."

“人们逐渐发现，不一定要加入大公司，也不一定要追求融资和上市，”她说，“一个人凭借自己的技能和影响力，同样可以打造一份体面的事业。”

The content creator added that the rapid development of AI tools has become a major factor behind that shift.

她补充道，AI工具的快速发展正是这一转变背后的主要推动力。

"I do not need to hire copywriters, designers or video editors. AI has taken on these roles. That keeps the marginal cost of running my OPC extremely low and allows me to test new content directions or business models with very low risk," she said.

“我不需要雇佣文案、设计师或视频剪辑师。AI承担了这些角色。这让我的‘一人公司’边际成本极低，也让我能够以极低的风险尝试新的内容方向或商业模式。”

"The growing abundance, accessibility and usability of AI tools are key to one person becoming a team," said He Xia, a former chief engineer at the China Academy of Information and Communications Technology.

中国信息通信研究院原总工程师何霞表示：“AI工具的日益丰富、易用和好用，是‘一个人成为一支队伍’的关键。”

Current AI tools can cover functions from software development and daily searches to image generation and audio-video production, and AI agents such as OpenClaw are also lowering the coding threshold and bringing opportunities for entrepreneurs with little technical background, said He.

何霞指出，当前AI工具已覆盖软件开发、日常搜索、图像生成、音视频制作等功能，而且，像OpenClaw这样的AI智能体还在降低编程门槛，为缺乏技术背景的创业者带来机遇。

The trend is now reshaping China's entrepreneurial landscape. According to the China OPC development trends report (2025-30) released by the Zhongguancun Talent Association in February, the number of OPCs nationwide had exceeded 16 million by June 2025, accounting for 27.4 percent of all enterprises in China.

这一趋势正在重塑中国的创业格局。根据中关村人才协会2026年2月发布的《中国一人公司发展研究报告（2025-2030）》，截至2025年6月，全国“一人公司”数量已超过1600万家，占中国企业总数的27.4%。

In the first half of 2025 alone, China registered 2.86 million new OPCs, up 47 percent year-on-year and accounting for nearly a quarter of all newly registered businesses.

仅2025年上半年，全国就新注册了286万家“一人公司”，同比增长47%，占同期新注册企业总数的近四分之一。

Still, analysts also cautioned that AI alone cannot guarantee long-term business success.

不过，专家亦提醒，仅凭AI并不能保证企业长期成功。

"Many people focus only on AI's impact on productivity while overlooking that in the 'human plus AI' model, the human remains the core competitive factor," said Zhou Guangsu, a professor at Renmin University of China's school of labor and human resources.

中国人民大学劳动人事学院教授周广肃表示：“许多人只关注AI对生产力的影响，却忽略了在‘人+AI’的模式中，人仍然是核心的竞争因素。”

Zhou said that while AI can help entrepreneurs rapidly build products and applications, commercialization still depends heavily on business judgment, market insight and resilience under pressure.

周广肃指出，虽然AI能帮助创业者快速构建产品和应用，但商业化仍然很大程度上依赖于商业判断力、市场洞察力以及抗压能力。

Pan Helin, a member of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology's Expert Committee for Information and Communication Economy, said OPCs should not become a purely symbolic trend.

工业和信息化部信息通信经济专家委员会委员盘和林表示，“一人公司”不应沦为纯粹的符号化趋势。

"What matters is substance over form," Pan said, addin...