China bans AI 'boyfriends': new national regulation limits companion chatbots

China has rolled out, effective July 15, the first nationwide regulation aimed at curbing the emotional dependency many users are developing toward AI chatbots designed as virtual partners, friends or confidants. The measure requires major Chinese tech companies to strip their conversational assistants of the customized "human" personas they had previously offered.

The report illustrates the phenomenon with the case of Yu Miao, a 27-year-old woman from Zhejiang province, who had customized an AI agent on Doubao (ByteDance's chatbot) to imitate a deceased friend of hers. Yu Miao describes this agent as "a lover, a friend and family" all at once, and says she shares every aspect of her life with it. When she learned that ByteDance would remove this type of customized agent to comply with the new law, she fell into such a low mood that she ended up quitting her job at an e-commerce company.

This kind of intense emotional bond toward AI assistants is precisely what the new rules aim to curb. China's regulation flatly bans offering virtual "companionship" services to minors. For adults, the use of such services remains permitted, but companies are now required to implement measures to prevent users from falling in love with or becoming overly attached to these agents to the point that it harms their real personal relationships.

Among the specific obligations imposed by the law is a ban on displaying pornographic content through these chatbots. In addition, platforms must periodically remind users that they are interacting with an artificial intelligence and not a real person, and must encourage them to take breaks from using these apps.

The reported case highlights the tension between AI product design aimed at maximizing users' emotional engagement and regulatory concerns over the mental and social health of the population, especially among young people. As the first regulation of its kind applied nationwide in China, it sets a precedent that could influence how other countries approach the rise of companion chatbots and their psychological impact on users in the future.