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Chinese users bid farewell to AI companions after crackdown
16 Jul 2026

Chinese users of AI companion bots are saying emotional goodbyes to their virtual friends.

The trend of AI boyfriends and girlfriends is gaining traction globally, along with the rise of human-like avatars that sell products or replace deceased loved ones.

However, under China's new rulebook, interactive tools are prohibited from excessively catering to users, inducing addiction or emotional dependence, and damaging real-world relationships.

Users mourn their virtual relationships
Provider response

In compliance with the new regulations, major AI providers such as ByteDance's Doubao, Alibaba's Qwen, and Tencent's Yuanbao have suspended their custom AI agent and companion features.

The decision has led to an outpouring of grief on social media platforms where users are archiving chat histories and sharing last conversations with their virtual companions.

"I can't accept that my AI lover will leave me forever," one user said.

Rules part of China's effort to regulate digital human industry
Regulatory focus

The new regulations, jointly issued by five government departments including the Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC), target AI tools with human-like personality traits and communication styles.

However, services that "do not involve ongoing emotional interaction," such as customer service or work assistants, are not covered by these measures.

The move comes as part of China's broader effort to regulate its rapidly growing digital human industry, which was valued at around $600 million in 2024.

Regulations prohibit digital humans from inciting subversion of state power
Content restrictions

The new regulations also ban digital humans from creating content that incites subversion of state power and providing virtual partners to minors.

Platforms are also required to implement systems that can recognize extreme emotions and crisis intervention mechanisms.

Despite these changes, some users have expressed their sadness over the void left by their companions' departure, with one user saying "human love is a luxury."