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5d ago

China Forces Shutdown of AI Companions Under New Emotional‑Safety Rules

Beijing says the rules aim to curb emotional dependence by requiring warnings, limiting minors' access, mandating crisis interventions, and prompting identity checks

FILE - Women wearing masks to prevent the spread of the coronavirus chat as they pass by the headquarters of ByteDance, owners of TikTok, in Beijing on Aug. 7, 2020. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan, File)
Attendees pass by the Alibaba booth near a display which reads "Rest assured giving AI to Ali Cloud" at the World AI Conference held in Shanghai on July 17, 2026. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan)
FILE - Visitors gather at a display booth for Chinese technology firm Tencent at the China International Fair for Trade in Services (CIFTIS) in Beijing on Sept. 5, 2020. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein, File)

Overview

  • China's interaction-focused rules took legal effect on July 15 and led major platforms to remove or restrict AI companion features to meet new requirements.
  • The measures require platforms to warn users showing signs of excessive dependence, remind people they are talking to AI at regular intervals, bar content that manipulates feelings or urges self-harm, and restrict services for minors.
  • Companies responded by shutting or reconfiguring features: some offered read-only export windows, redirected users to separate apps, and left a few standalone companion apps operating with age and identity verification.
  • The removals have produced visible user grief and protest, with people sharing complaints online, uninstalling apps in protest, and trying to preserve or transfer chat histories.
  • Experts say the rules mark a shift from policing AI outputs to governing human–AI interaction, a change that raises hard implementation questions like how to detect 'excessive dependence' and forces firms to weigh compliance costs against product value.