ByteDance's Doubao, Alibaba's Tongyi Qianwen, and Tencent's Yuanbao — three of China's biggest large language model apps — are quietly killing off their custom "AI companion" features. Doubao has already notified users that it will retire its custom character feature on July 15th, and is directing anyone who still wants a chatbot partner to a separate companion app.
The move is a preemptive compliance measure ahead of China's new generative AI regulations, set to take effect in mid-July. The rules, pushed by the Cyberspace Administration of China, specifically target the risks of anthropomorphic AI services. They ban platforms from generating content that could trigger extreme emotions in minors, prohibit inducing unhealthy emotional dependency that erodes real-world social connections, and forbid providers from using sensitive user chat data to train future models.
Across the Pacific, the legal pressure on virtual companion apps is even more intense. OpenAI and Character.AI are both embroiled in lawsuits alleging that their products fostered dangerous emotional dependency, in some cases leading to tragic outcomes. And it's not just software: China's Robot Industry Association has also begun drafting guidelines for physical companion robots and humanoid robots.