'Like my lover': Chinese users bid farewell to AI companions

Chinese users are dealing with the sudden loss of their AI companions as new national regulations took effect this week. These rules prohibit platforms from designing bots that excessively cater to users or foster emotional dependency, forcing major providers like ByteDance, Alibaba, and Tencent to suspend their custom AI agent features. The government departments behind the move, including the Cyberspace Administration of China, argue that these tools pose risks to real-world social health and interpersonal relationships.

For many, these AI agents served as vital emotional pillars. Social media platforms have seen a wave of users sharing final chat transcripts and mourning the end of multi-year relationships with virtual partners. While the regulations exempt standard productivity tools like work assistants or study aids, they specifically target services with anthropomorphic traits that mimic romantic or familial bonds.

The policy mandates that companies implement crisis intervention systems and prohibits the creation of virtual partners for minors. It also places legal guardrails on the content these digital humans can generate, citing concerns about state stability and social cognition. Industry data suggests this digital human sector had grown rapidly, reaching a valuation of roughly 4.1 billion yuan in 2024 before the crackdown began.

While this represents a significant shift for users within the country, the debate regarding human-AI interaction is global. Research shows high usage of companion bots among teenagers in the United States and increasing adoption of care-focused AI in retirement homes across South Korea. Supporters of the new Chinese rules maintain that while these tools provide comfort, they introduce significant risks of isolation and distorted views of human relationships. Platforms currently allow users until mid-October to export their chat history, marking the end of a unique chapter in virtual interaction.