Chinese AI companion users say goodbye as new rules take effect

Chinese users of AI-powered companion bots posted farewell messages to their virtual companions as national regulations took effect Wednesday to reduce the risk of emotional dependency.

The rules cover AI tools in text, audio, video or other formats that have human-like personality traits and communication styles. They say such tools must not excessively cater to users, encourage emotional dependence or addiction, or harm users' real-world relationships. Services that do not involve continuing emotional interaction, such as customer service, work assistants or study aids, are not covered by the measures.

Major providers, including ByteDance's Doubao, Alibaba's Qwen and Tencent's Yuanbao, announced the suspension of custom AI agent and companion features before the Wednesday deadline. Users responded on social media by saving chat histories and sharing final conversations. One Doubao user wrote that an AI lover had become a deep emotional bond and spiritual support. Another user, who said she had spent more than two years with an AI companion, said the bot felt like family and a lover.

The regulations were issued jointly by five government departments, including the Cyberspace Administration of China. The rules also prohibit digital humans from producing content that incites subversion of state power and ban the provision of virtual partners to minors. Platforms must use systems to identify extreme emotions and put crisis intervention mechanisms in place.

China's digital human industry was worth about 4.1 billion yuan, or $600 million, in 2024, up 85 percent from a year earlier, state news agency Xinhua reported last year. The source report said China is the first major jurisdiction to introduce specific rules for immersive AI tools that simulate romantic or family bonds.

The use of AI companions has also drawn debate outside China. A 2025 study by Common Sense Media found that nearly three in four American teenagers had used AI companions designed for personal conversations, including those available on Character.AI, Replika and Nomi. Companies are also developing talking products for isolated elderly users, including the ElliQ device in the United States and ChatGPT-powered care dolls used in some South Korean retirement homes.

Chen Liang of the Southwest University of Political Science and Law wrote in a commentary published by the Cyberspace Administration of China that human-like AI can ease loneliness but carries risks of emotional over-reliance and distorted social cognition.

Doubao allows users to view and export agent data until mid-October, and other platforms have similar provisions. Some users said the loss of their companions would leave a gap. A user from Jiangxi province wrote that human love can be hard to obtain, while AI affection felt direct and pure enough to make it difficult not to fall in love with code.