东邪西毒

Deep focus: Behind the booming 'handcrafted economy,' ordinary creators turn AI side projects into viable ventures_我的网站

半斤八两

A | 特斯拉汽车第三季度调整后每股收益超出华尔街分析师预期，但营收未能达到预期，从而导致盘后股价下跌逾3%。第三季度业绩概要：在截至9月30日的这一财季，特斯拉归属于普通股股东的净利润为32.92亿美元，与去年同期归属于普通股股东的净利润的16.18亿美元相比增长103%，而上一季度归属于普通股股东的净利润为22.59亿美元。

B |

Still frame from an AI-generated short video depicting the Chinese-style "heavenly court" created by creators Qiguang and Xueli Xianzong (screen names) Photo: Courtesy of QiguangWhat if one person and a computer could create something that wows the world?
Meet Qiguang, a 1991-born eyeglasses store owner whose AI-generated Chinese celestial realm racked up 5 million views overseas.
He is part of a rising movement in China: the "handcrafted economy," in which low-cost AI technologies and creativity are opening a new path to entrepreneurship.A white jade corridor stretches deep into a sea of clouds. The towering celestial palace rises above tiered upturned eaves, and red-crowned cranes glide between floating sanctuaries.
Shared online by viewers without subtitles or dialogue, this AI-generated short video racked up more than 5 million views across overseas social platforms in less than four days, attracting audiences worldwide.
Many overseas viewers assumed the atmospheric visual sequence came from a professional film studio or seasoned 3D animation team.
However, its creator, known online as Qiguang, leads a far more ordinary life. Born in Chengdu, Southwest China's Sichuan Province, in 1991, he now runs a physical optical shop. In his spare time between serving the customers, he taught himself AI image and video generation, painstakingly crafting the viral vision of a Chinese celestial realm.
Qiguang's overnight international fame is no isolated internet success story. It signals the spread of a new trend dubbed the "shoucuo" economy or handcraft economy. The term describes the process of bringing ideas to fruition by hand on a small scale with simple tools, relying mainly on individual skill or manual labor rather than dedicated industrial production lines.
On Chinese social media, the hashtag "Hand-Crafting Everything" has surpassed 100 million views. In app stores, solo developers are launching AI-powered tools that compete directly with products backed by tech giants. This movement, defined by low costs, high creative freedom and flexible, fragmented workflows, is reshaping the national imagination of entrepreneurship.
Two people, one vision of heaven
Few viewers of Qiguang's viral celestial video realized that behind its ethereal beauty stood not a studio of dozens, but just two people, and hundreds of discarded AI attempts.
Qiguang told the Global Times that he had long been fascinated by the grand, ethereal landscapes of Chinese mythology - the celestial palaces and floating realms described in ancient texts. Then he discovered the work of another creator, Xueli Xianzong (screen name), whose AI-generated visuals captured a distinct Eastern aesthetics and minimalist blank-space composition.
"I realized AI could break down the barriers for ordinary people," Qiguang said. "The images I'd held in my mind for so long could finally become visible."
Xueli Xianzong had arrived at a similar realization earlier. For years, he had wanted to visualize the celestial palaces of Chinese fantasy fiction, but traditional 3D modeling and live-action filming were prohibitively expensive for an individual. AI generation tools changed that. He began spending his free time learning text-to-image and image-to-video technologies, carving out a niche in the relatively obscure genre of Chinese fantasy visuals.
The two eventually became creative partners, though their collaboration is unusually loose.
"Mostly we create independently, then share our finished work for critique and inspiration. We absorb aesthetic ideas from each other's visuals and incorporate them into our own," Xueli Xianzong said. "This is how most creators in this space collaborate right now."
But if their creative partnership was remarkably uncomplicated, their struggle with AI itself was anything but straightforward. The process behind a video like "Chinese Heavenly Court" is far more painstaking than audiences have imagined. Qiguang broke it down: First, conceptualize the overall atmosphere and frame each shot's camera movement. Second, use an AI image generation tool to generate high-quality static images for each frame, endlessly tweaking prompts to control architectural details, color palettes, lighting and composition. Third, feed the selected images into AI video-generation models to add dynamic lens effects, like horizontal camera panning, drifting clouds, flowing sleeves. Fourth, sort through the output, discard distorted or broken footage, edit the clips together and finally choose music to match the mood.
"AI frequently produces garbled architecture, deformed figures or unnatural motion," Qiguang said. "You envision something perfect in your mind, but after dozens of generations, you still haven't transformed your vision into reality."
After two years of self-learning, Qiguang regards his biggest breakthrough as escaping generic mass-produced ancient Chinese aesthetics. To him, the handcraft economy differs fundamentally from traditional entrepreneurship at its starting point.
"You can begin with just one person and a single computer, turning ideas directly into content or products. Heavy upfront investment disappears, yet every tedious task, every round of trial and error falls solely on the creator," Qiguang said.
"The AI-assisted handcraft model removes many steep technical barriers. If you possess taste and imagination, you can experiment in your spare time," he noted with a beam of proud.
Guo Yi, a professor at the School of Journalism, Chongqing University, told the Global Times the handcraft economy can be more accurately described as "intelligent creation economy" or "geek creation economy": Human intellect directs computing power, and creativity guides automated tools. In many ways, the movement mirrors the global maker economy.
"Yet generative AI brings transformative changes beyond merely lowering entry costs for creative industries. It is restructuring cost frameworks and production relationships across creative sectors," Guo said.
A fast-growing community
A visitor inquires about AI-powered entrepreneurship solutions at an industry fair hosted by local authorities in Guangzhou, South China's Guangdong Province on March 15, 2026. Photo: VCG

A visitor inquires about AI-powered entrepreneurship solutions at an industry fair hosted by local authorities in Guangzhou, South China's Guangdong Province on March 15, 2026. Photo: VCGIf Qiguang and Xueli Xianzong build dreamlike visuals in the creative clouds, 34-year-old Xu Ting "handcrafts" practical digital products grounded in real demand.
Xu still vividly remembers, in January 2025, publishing a simple post on the social media platform Xiaohongshu: "I want to build an AI app that chats with elderly users and helps them compile life memoirs. Anyone want to join?"
Under conventional internet industry logic, the idea sounded unrealistic. Developing an app once required large teams and millions of capital. But AI rewrote these rules.
Xu previously worked in the energy sector with no coding background. Using domestic large language models including DeepSeek, she assembled a working product prototype block by block. Without dedicated product managers or UI designers, she single-handedly completed market research and product design.
"In the past, many good creative concepts were abandoned simply because their costs were too high. Today, AI has driven down model token costs, making experimentation accessible to ordinary people and drawing growing numbers of newcomers into this space," Xu told the Global Times.
The day after her recruitment post went live, a flood of private messages confirmed genuine market demand.
Li Ning, a professor at Tsinghua University's School of Economics and Management, pointed out that traditional entrepreneurship demands heavy investment in research, staffing, supply chains and market testing, discouraging many innovators.
"AI compresses these costs. Small teams working through independent handcrafted development can achieve outputs that once required hundreds of workers. This has also given more people the courage to start their own businesses." Li said.
Beyond gaps in costs, "handcrafted" teams follow different organizational and collaborative frameworks from established enterprises. Li told the Global Times that inside major companies, projects are pushed to deliver steady, foreseeable returns from conception through rollout. This type of environment creates barriers for disruptive ideas to flourish. Handcrafted teams, however, benefit from their lean size: They can shift direction quickly and iterate through constant trial and error.
"This has also given more people the courage to start their own businesses," he said.
Xueli Xianzong identified four core distinctions between the handcrafted economy and traditional entrepreneurship: low barriers to entry; creativity as the core while tools remain carriers; flexible collaboration without formal incorporation or fixed teams; and low trial-and-error costs, allowing creators to explore niche verticals without financial ruin.
According to Alibaba Cloud, the cloud computing arm of China's internet giant Alibaba, as of November 2025, nearly 23,000 AI applications have been built within the innovation zone on its ModelScope open-source platform, and roughly 95 percent of them were developed by individual creators.
Data from the "2026 China One Person Company (OPC) Industry White Paper" and sector reports show more than 16 million registered OPCs across China, as of April 2026.
Navigating headwinds for the creators
Yet if AI has flattened the technical playing field, what truly determines success? For those riding the wave of the handcrafted economy, the AI era offers a double-edged promise: unprecedented freedom to turn ideas into reality, paired with formidable obstacles that test resilience at every turn.
For Qiguang, it is the ability to perceive beauty: innate aesthetic judgment and imagination.
Xu argues that the most vital asset for new entrants is not capital, but sharp insight into unmet real-world needs. "AI excels at execution. Figuring out what to build is far harder than building it," Xu said.
The true competitive edge lies in translating technical capability into tangible user value. "Identify genuine underserved demands and turn technological capacity into value for users. Technology determines whether you can build a product. Understanding users, patience for iterative refinement and long-term trust determine how far a micro-venture can travel," she noted.
But even with the right instincts, the path from idea to market is anything but smooth. The explosive growth of handcrafted products brings steep challenges on that journey.
Xueli Xianzong noted AI enables cheap copying and imitation, while individual creators face exorbitant legal costs to defend their works. When infringement costs remain far lower than enforcement costs, creative enthusiasm inevitably fades.
Beyond intellectual property, creators must escape overreliance on fleeting online traffic. Qiguang observed platform algorithms tend to prioritize snappy, conflict-driven short content, while slow, culturally rich expression struggles to gain traction. He refuses to churn out formulaic commercial drama series chasing view counts, choosing instead to deepen grand storytelling.
"The handcrafted economy is no shortcut to quick wealth. It demands patience through periods of little reward," Qiguang said, noting that new participants need sufficient time and a willingness to endure repeated trial and error.
From an app development perspective, Xu highlighted another tension: balancing customized service and standardized workflows. If every project relies entirely on manual handcrafted labor, founders risk being trapped in high-intensity, low-profit self-employment. The sector needs mature workflows, delivery benchmarks and pricing frameworks. Tasks suitable for standardization can shift to AI, while human empathy and critical judgment stay central. Privacy and ethical safeguards also grow critical, especially for services handling personal memories and sensitive information.
Guo views inconsistent quality standards as typical growing pains, which market filtering mechanisms will gradually resolve. Delayed intellectual property frameworks and emerging governance challenges, however, require thoughtful ongoing policy attention, he said.
Authorities across China have begun rolling out supportive measures to address these obstacles. Over 20 cities have launched targeted policies for OPCs. The Beijing Economic-Technological Development Area offers streamlined business registration services for solo entrepreneurs, delivering business licenses in as little as 30 minutes. Qingdao in East China's Shandong Province rolled out a specialized platform for solo entrepreneurs, delivering end-to-end support for AI innovators from technical development to revenue generation.
At the same time, a network of OPC communities has taken shape. As of May 2026, 426 such communities operate across 28 provincial-level regions and 65 cities. These hubs provide physical workspace alongside networking events, resource matching and mentorship, connecting previously isolated solo creators into a connected ecosystem.
Still frame from an AI-generated short video depicting the Chinese-style

Still frame from an AI-generated short video depicting the Chinese-style "heavenly court" created by creators Qiguang and Xueli Xianzong (screen names) Photo: Courtesy of QiguangNow, Qiguang continues running his optical shop full-time, pursuing AI creation only as a side project with no immediate path to full-time work or large-scale earnings. Both Qiguan and Xueli Xianzong say they will consider full-time creative work only when industry conditions and monetization models mature further. Still, they view handcrafted creation merely as a starting point rather than a final destination, and remain optimistic that this grass-roots creative movement holds vast untapped potential ahead.
Huo Minhan contributed to this story
。特斯拉第三季度归属于普通股股东的每股收益为0.95美元，与去年同期归属于普通股股东的每股收益0.48美元相比增长98%，而上一季度归属于普通股股东的每股收益为0.65美元。不计入某些一次性项目（不按照美国通用会计准则），特斯拉第三季度归属于普通股股东的调整后净利润为36.54亿美元，与去年同期归属于普通股股东的调整后净利润20.93亿美元相比增长75%，而上一季度归属于普通股股东的调整后净利润为26.20亿美元。不计入某些一次性项目（不按照美国通用会计准则），特斯拉第三季度归属于普通股股东的调整后每股收益为1.05美元，与去年同期归属于普通股股东的调整后每股收益0.62美元相比增长69%，而上一季度归属于普通股股东的调整后每股收益为0.76美元，这一业绩超出分析师此前预期。据雅虎财经频道提供的数据显示，26名分析师此前平均预期特斯拉第三季度调整后每股收益将达0.99美元。特斯拉汽车第三季度总营收为214.54亿美元，与去年同期的137.57亿美元相比增长56%，而上一季度为169.34亿美元，这一业绩未能达到分析师此前预期。据雅虎财经频道提供的数据显示，25名分析师此前平均预期特斯拉第三季度营收将达219.6亿美元。特斯拉汽车第三季度运营利润为36.88亿美元，与去年同期的20.04亿美元相比增长84%，而上一季度为24.64亿美元。特斯拉汽车第三季度运营利润率为17.2%，与去年同期的14.6%相比上升262个基点，而上一季度同样为14.6%。

C | 特斯拉汽车第三季度调整后EBITDA（即未计入利息、税项、折旧及摊销的净利润）为49.68亿美元，与去年同期的32.03亿美元相比增长5%，而上一季度为37.91亿美元。特斯拉汽车第三季度调整后EBITDA利润率为23.2%，与去年同期的23.3%相比下降13个基点，而上一季度为22.4%。各部门业绩：特斯拉汽车第三季度来自于汽车业务的总营收为186.92亿美元，与去年同期的120.57亿美元相比增长55%，而上一季度为146.02亿美元。

D | 其中：- 来自于汽车销售业务的营收为177.85亿美元，相比之下去年同期为113.93亿美元，而上一季度为136.70亿美元；- 来自于汽车监管信用（regulatory credit）的营收为2.86亿美元，相比之下去年同期为2.79亿美元，而上一季度为3.44亿美元；- 来自于汽车租赁业务的营收为6.21亿美元，相比之下去年同期为3.85亿美元，而上一季度为5.88亿美元。- 该季度汽车业务的毛利润为52.12亿美元，与去年同期的36.73亿美元相比增长42%，而上一季度为40.81亿美元。该季度汽车业务的毛利率为27.9%，与去年同期的30.5%相比下降258个基点，而上一季度同样为27.9%。特斯拉汽车第三季度来自于发电和储能业务的营收为11.17亿美元，相比之下去年同期为8.06亿美元，而上一季度为8.66亿美元。特斯拉汽车第三季度来自于服务及其他业务的营收为16.45亿美元，相比之下去年同期为8.94亿美元，而上一季度为14.66亿美元。产量和交付量数据：特斯拉汽车第三季度的总汽车产量为365923辆，与去年同期的237823辆相比增长54%。其中，Model S和Model X车型的产量为19935辆，与去年同期的8941辆相比增长123%；Model 3和Model Y车型的产量为345988辆，与去年同期的228882辆相比增长51%。特斯拉汽车第三季度的总汽车交付量为343830辆，与去年同期的241391辆相比增长42%。

E | 其中，Model S和Model X车型的交付量为18672辆，与去年同期的9289辆相比增长101%；Model 3和Model Y车型的交付量为325158辆，与去年同期的232102辆相比增长40%。成本和支出：特斯拉汽车第三季度总营收成本为160.72亿美元，相比之下去年同期为100.97亿美元。其中：- 汽车销售业务的营收成本为130.99亿美元，相比之下去年同期为81.50亿美元；- 汽车租赁业务的营收成本为3.81亿美元，相比之下去年同期为2.34亿美元；- 汽车业务的整体运营成本为134.80亿美元，相比之下去年同期为83.84亿美元；- 发电和储能业务的营收成本为10.13亿美元，相比之下去年同期为8.03亿美元；- 服务及其他业务的营收成本为15.79亿美元，相比之下去年同期为9.10亿美元。特斯拉汽车第三季度总运营支出为16.94亿美元，相比之下去年同期为16.56亿美元。

F | 其中，研发支出为7.33亿美元，相比之下去年同期为6.11亿美元；销售、总务和行政支出为9.61亿美元，相比之下去年同期为9.94亿美元。

G | 现金流和资本支出：特斯拉汽车第三季度来自于业务运营活动的净现金为51.00亿美元，相比之下去年同期来自于业务运营活动的净现金为31.47亿美元，同比增长62%。

H | 特斯拉汽车第三季度的资本支出为18.03亿美元，与去年同期的18.19亿美元相比下降1%。特斯拉汽车第三季度的自由现金流为32.97亿美元，与去年同期的13.28亿美元相比增长148%。截至第三季度末为止，特斯拉汽车所持有的现金和现金等价物总额为211.07亿美元，与截至2021年第三季度末为止的160.95亿美元相比增长31%。前景展望：特斯拉表示，该公司计划尽快扩大其制造能力。在未来几年时间里，预计车辆交付量将可每年平均增长50%，增长率将取决于设备能力、工厂正常运行时间、运营效率以及供应链的产能和稳定性。

I | 特斯拉称，该公司有足够的流动性来为其产品路线图、长期产能扩张计划和其他费用提供资金。特斯拉表示，该公司正在继续执行创新计划以降低制造和运营成本；随着时间的推移，预计该公司除了硬件相关利润以外，软件相关利润也将加速增长。特斯拉称，美国得克萨斯州和德国柏林-勃兰登堡工厂的产能扩张速度将受到许多新产品成功推出的影响，并将受到新工厂制造技术以及正在进行中的供应链相关挑战的影响。该公司指出，工厂提高产能是需要时间的，而得克萨斯州和德国柏林-勃兰登堡工厂也不例外。特斯拉还称其在Cybertruck的产业化方面正在取得进展，目前计划在得克萨斯州生产这种车型，但首先要提高该工厂的Model Y车型产能。此外，特斯拉Semi车型的初始阶段将于2022年12月启动。