China's ByteDance and Alibaba have begun switching off humanlike AI (AI companion) features that support sustained emotional interaction, moving to comply with new regulations that take effect on July 15. The rules are described as the world's first national measures to explicitly target such services.
July 15 · China AI Regulation
China Pulls the Plug on AI Companions
ByteDance, Alibaba and Tencent are switching off humanlike, emotion-driven AI personas to comply with the world's first national rules targeting anthropomorphic AI services — pivoting toward utility-focused agents instead.
3
Major tech firms shutting down companion features
1st
National rules worldwide aimed at humanlike AI
Oct 15
Doubao user data becomes inaccessible
Who is switching off — and when
July 15
Redirects users to Maoxiang; data inaccessible after Oct 15
Qwen
Alibaba · Tongyi Qianwen
July 15
Some features off ~July 10; no migration or export announced
Removed
Similar feature dropped the prior week
The dividing line: what stays, what goes
Regulation targets sustained emotional relationships — not productivity.
Switched off ×
Emotion-driven companions
Persistent custom personas
Role-play & relationship bots
Sustained emotional interaction
Carved out ✓
Workplace & productivity agents
Customer service bots
Educational tools
Utility-focused AI
What the new measures require
"Interim Measures for the Administration of Anthropomorphic Interactive AI Services" — built to preempt emotional dependency before it forms.
Anti-addiction systems
Usage notifications
Instant-exit mechanisms
Protection of minors
Content moderation
Seen as necessary
Supporters welcome the safeguards, especially for protecting minors, calling it a test case for regulating emotionally engaging AI before dependency spreads.
Users feel the loss
Those who leaned on companions for ongoing emotional support complain about the sudden shutdown and the lack of any data export path.
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