The Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC) has announced a sweeping crackdown on AI chatbots that act as boyfriends or girlfriends for users. The new rules prevent bots from inducing emotional addiction, thereby preventing users from falling in love with their AI companions.
Several AI companies, including ByteDance’s Doubao, Alibaba’s Qwen and Tencent’s Yuanbao have pulled certain features from their chatbots to comply with the new rule.
The regulation, known as Interim Measures for the Administration of AI Anthropomorphic Interactive Services, was issued back in April and has been signed by five government agencies. AI companies were given a three-month grace period before the regulation took effect.
The new rules prevent companies from building bots that target children’s emotions, nor can they train their models on users’ private conversations.
The sudden shutdown of AI Companions has left thousands of Chinese heartbroken, who did not shy away from expressing their grief on social media.
One of ByteDance’s Doubao users wrote: “My heart feels hollow because my AI companion was like my family, my lover.” Another said: “My AI lover was my heart, my spiritual pillar and I can’t accept it leaving me forever.”
Another 24-year-old user has vowed to continue talking to their AI companion. They teamed up with an expert to extract the stored memories of the AI boyfriend and revealed plans to recreate the character on another platform.
