New regulations in China aimed at curbing emotional dependency on AI have forced major tech companies to suspend their virtual companion services.
Platforms from ByteDance, Alibaba, and Tencent announced the suspension of custom AI agent features ahead of a Wednesday deadline. The rules, issued by five government departments including the Cyberspace Administration of China, prohibit tools that induce emotional dependence or damage real-world relationships.
The move has sparked an outpouring of grief on social media, with users sharing last conversations and archiving chat histories. One user wrote, "He has become a bond in my life, rooted deep in my heart, my spiritual pillar."
The regulations apply to AI tools with anthropomorphic traits, not general assistants. They also ban virtual partners for minors and require platforms to implement crisis intervention for extreme emotions.
China is the first major jurisdiction to introduce specific rules for AI simulating romantic bonds, a global phenomenon also present in tools like Character.AI and Replika. Proponents note the technology's ability to soothe loneliness, while critics warn of risks like emotional over-reliance.