The Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC) has announced a broad crackdown on AI chatbots that act as users’ boyfriends or girlfriends. The new rules prohibit robots from inducing emotional dependence, thus preventing users from falling in love with their AI companions.
Several AI companies, including ByteDance’s Doubao, Alibaba’s Qwen and Tencent’s Yuanbao, have removed certain features from their chatbots to comply with the new rule.
The regulation, known as Interim Measures for the Administration of Anthropomorphic Interactive AI Services, was issued in April and has been approved by five government agencies. AI companies were given a three-month grace period before the regulation took effect.
The new rules prohibit companies from creating robots that target children’s emotions, nor can they train their models on users’ private conversations.
The sudden closure of AI colleagues has left thousands of Chinese heartbroken, who have not shied away from expressing their pain on social media.
One of the ByteDance Doubao users wrote: “My heart feels empty because my AI partner was like my family, my lover.” Another chimed in: “My AI lover was my heart, my spiritual pillar and I can’t accept him leaving me forever.”
Another 24-year-old user promised to continue talking to his AI partner. They teamed up with an expert to extract the saved memories of the AI boyfriend and revealed plans to recreate the character on another platform.
