Chinese authorities have imposed tough new rules regulating the tech sector that completely ban AI agents for emotional support and virtual partners, as Beijing seeks to push citizens back into real-life dating and family formation amid the country’s falling birthrate.
Chinese authorities have imposed tough new rules regulating the tech sector that completely ban AI agents for emotional support and virtual partners, as Beijing seeks to push citizens back into real-life dating and family formation amid the country’s falling birthrate.
According to Dexerto, the restrictions were jointly developed by five Chinese government agencies, including the Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC). They officially came into effect on July 15, 2026. For developers, including giants such as ByteDance, Alibaba, and Tencent, this means the immediate closure or radical reduction of the functionality of their most popular AI products.
Analysts and experts say the country’s authorities are extremely concerned that millions of young people are replacing real partners with AI companions, which takes them out of the «bride market.» In China, birth rates have fallen to a historic low (about 8 million births per year), so state regulators have decided to act radically. The new rules explicitly prohibit artificial intelligence tools from «over-pleasing users, causing emotional dependence or addiction,» as well as harming real interpersonal relationships.
The government ban came as a shock to millions of users. Social media, including Weibo, is flooded with farewell messages and archived chats with virtual boyfriends and girlfriends.
«I can’t accept that my AI lover will leave me forever. He has become my spiritual support,» shared a user of the Doubao platform from ByteDance. Another girl, who has been communicating with her virtual companion for more than two years, noted that he has become a real family for her, adding that «AI love is simple and clear, unlike real relationships.»
Tech companies are having to reshape their businesses, which were once worth billions of dollars in China, on the fly. ByteDance allowed Doubao users to export their chat data until mid-October and suggested they switch to the Maoxiang app, where they can create assistants that already meet government restrictions — that is, do not simulate romantic feelings. At the same time, Alibaba’s Qwen platform did not allow users to save their chat history at all.
