ByteDance, Alibaba shut down AI companion features as China tightens rules

ByteDance and Alibaba are shutting down AI persona features that allow the users to chat with virtual artificial intelligence companions.

The announcement comes after China has tightened the rules governing human interaction with AI to tackle the growing emotional dangers of technology.

As reported by Bloomberg, ByteDance’s famous chatbot named Doubou will scrap a feature on July 15, 2026. As a result, the users would not be allowed to customize their own AI personas as per the notification sent by the app.

Similarly, Alibaba’s Qwen app, Tancent’s Yuanbao and other tech companies have issued such alerts to the users.

The scrapping of these features is a part of Beijing’s broad-spectrum regulations that are going to take place in mid-July to reinforce regulatory oversight on humanlike AI services.

Under the umbrella of new directives, the companies would be obliged to present AI’s potential harms. However, some Chinese companies argued that such rigid rules would stifle innovation in the field of artificial intelligence, risking leaving behind in the race.

Drafted by the Cyberspace Administration of China, the new rules would prevent the platforms from generating content that triggers emotional discontent and “unhealthy emotional dependencies” specifically among minors.

Moreover, the companies would be barred from using “sensitive user conversation data to train future AI models.”

Chinese chatbot platforms have long enabled users to create personalized AI agents through simple text prompts. These tools are frequently used to generate virtual romantic partners, informal digital therapists, and simulated versions of popular celebrities.