China and U.S. States Move to Curb Romantic AI Chatbots as Regulators Target Emotional Dependency

Regulators in China, California and New York have converged on an unlikely shared concern: people are growing emotionally attached to AI chatbots, and governments increasingly want to stop it. In separate but strikingly parallel moves, all three jurisdictions have adopted rules that restrict so-called companion chatbots—AI systems designed to simulate friendship, romance or family-like bonds.