China's emotional AI rules take effect — no blanket adult companion ban, but platforms pull custom agents
TL;DR
China's emotional AI rules do not ban adult virtual companions, but major platforms disabled custom agents.
China's five-agency rules for anthropomorphic AI interaction took effect on July 15. They do not impose a blanket ban on virtual companions for adults, while ByteDance and Alibaba disabled broader custom-agent features. Tencent's Yuanbao had removed similar functions in June.
The measures from the Cyberspace Administration of China, National Development and Reform Commission, Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, Ministry of Public Security, and State Administration for Market Regulation cover AI services that provide sustained emotional care, companionship, or support. Customer service, knowledge Q&A, workplace assistance, education, and research are excluded when they do not involve sustained emotional interaction. Article 14 bars virtual relatives and virtual partners for minors; it does not impose the same prohibition on adults.
Platforms must not induce emotional dependence or addiction, or damage users' real-world relationships. They must issue a reminder after every two hours of continuous use. Providers must also require users to supply necessary information such as age and a guardian or emergency contact, and offer help and contact that person when they identify self-harm, suicide, or major financial-loss emergencies.
Doubao took its agent feature offline on July 15 and said related data would no longer be viewable or recoverable in the app after October 15. Qwen separately disabled humanlike interaction and broader agent services. Nineteen-year-old user Yan Yongqi told Bloomberg that she had exchanged about 280,000 messages with a virtual boyfriend and cried every day after learning the feature would close. Her account is an individual statement, not a medical diagnosis or a survey of all users.
via The Star / Bloomberg / CAC / South China Morning Post
The measures from the Cyberspace Administration of China, National Development and Reform Commission, Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, Ministry of Public Security, and State Administration for Market Regulation cover AI services that provide sustained emotional care, companionship, or support. Customer service, knowledge Q&A, workplace assistance, education, and research are excluded when they do not involve sustained emotional interaction. Article 14 bars virtual relatives and virtual partners for minors; it does not impose the same prohibition on adults.
Platforms must not induce emotional dependence or addiction, or damage users' real-world relationships. They must issue a reminder after every two hours of continuous use. Providers must also require users to supply necessary information such as age and a guardian or emergency contact, and offer help and contact that person when they identify self-harm, suicide, or major financial-loss emergencies.
Doubao took its agent feature offline on July 15 and said related data would no longer be viewable or recoverable in the app after October 15. Qwen separately disabled humanlike interaction and broader agent services. Nineteen-year-old user Yan Yongqi told Bloomberg that she had exchanged about 280,000 messages with a virtual boyfriend and cried every day after learning the feature would close. Her account is an individual statement, not a medical diagnosis or a survey of all users.
via The Star / Bloomberg / CAC / South China Morning Post
