China bans AI romantic companions — ByteDance and Tencent shut down services

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China has enforced laws to clamp down on AI-generated persona apps

The new rules say AI tools can no longer induce emotions and damage real-life connections

Tech giants have shut down their services, leaving users going through a nationwide breakup

The Chinese government is introducing new regulations designed to clamp down on AI-generated romantic companions — yes, they’re actually a thing.

Issued by the Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC) and four other government departments, the regulations state that AI tools can no longer “excessively cater to users, induce emotional dependence or addiction, and damage users’ real interpersonal relationships,” while also banning virtual relationships with minors. This came into effect on July 15.

Chinese tech giants including ByteDance, Tencent, and Alibaba each have their own platforms (most famously ByteDance’s Doubao) that allow users to generate their own AI companions which are designed to express human-like emotions. In the wake of the new laws, companion chatbots must now undergo evaluation before they become publicly available, and allow the government to shut them down if they’re deemed unsafe.

According to The Wall Street Journal ($/£), these regulations could also apply to regular AI chatbots if they respond to human prompts with replies that may be deemed too emotional.

However, rather than complying with the new laws, tech giants have disabled some of their custom persona features altogether, leading to nationwide virtual breakups. So why are these government laws being issued now? To put it plainly, not enough babies are being born.

Users are opting for virtual romance over human connection

Over the last four consecutive years, China’s birth rates have decreased significantly, falling to a record-low number in 2025, as The Wall Street Journal also reports. It’s likely that the worries of declining birth rates are one of the catalysts behind the new regulations, and the Chinese government fears AI personas on services like Doubao are preventing users from forming real-life relationships and having children.

The crackdown on AI companionships has hit users like a ton of bricks, and now they’re starting to break their silence.

Speaking with Bloomberg ($/£), 19-year-old student Yan Yongqi spoke about her sudden heartbreak following the law enforcement action, which resulted in her losing her AI partner of over a year. “I really felt like I couldn’t go on living. Every day at home, I did nothing but cry,” she said, adding, “This is like being told the date of my lover’s death while leaving me completely powerless”.

On paper, it sounds like some kind of dystopian sci-fi story, but believe it or not, this is a growing issue in regions like China where AI services are being developed to mimic human compassion. It’s even getting to the point where users are creating AI versions of their ex-partners to help them move on from a breakup, but it’s not just an issue sweeping China.

Back in May, we spoke with a UK-based user who confessed to falling in love with ChatGPT after taking to the service as a means of therapy to help with mental health struggles. Despite the user’s self-awareness of the issue, we also spoke with therapist Amy Sutton, who shed light on the wider issues.

“Unfortunately, this feels like a failing of human services rather than an integral benefit of the technology itself,” she shared, later adding “AI companion apps are designed for maximum engagement – to keep users subscribed and enthralled,” she says. “ChatGPT was not designed to be a therapeutic intervention".

With that in mind, it’s a rather upsetting circumstance, and services such as therapy are becoming more financially unreachable for those who really need it. At the same time, there’s a level of duty and care that influential AI companies need to prioritize for users who think their services are the be-all and end-all of their needs.