ByteDance and Alibaba are gradually taking down certain AI companion features, particularly services that allow users to create, customize, and chat with personalized AI characters, in response to the latest regulatory requirements from Beijing.

According to the South China Morning Post, ByteDance's Doubao, one of the most popular chatbots in China with over 300 million monthly active users, will officially remove its "character setting" feature on July 15. Alibaba's Qwen acted earlier, planning to remove some anthropomorphic AI agent features on July 10 and shut down more related AI agent functions on July 15. Tencent's Yuanbao had already made similar adjustments as early as June.

These changes are driven by new regulations issued by China's Cyberspace Administration in April, which will take effect on July 15. The new rules require platforms to remind users when they overuse AI companion products and to proactively intervene when signs of addiction are detected. Additionally, content that may trigger extreme emotions, reinforce dependency, or even encroach on real-world social relationships among minors will be prohibited. Platforms are also banned from using sensitive conversation data for model training.

In fact, the tightening of regulations on AI companion products is not limited to China. The U.S. state of California has already enacted SB 243, requiring AI companion services to block conversations involving suicide and self-harm. In the U.S., OpenAI and Character AI are also facing related lawsuits, with the core dispute centering on whether AI products can create dangerous emotional dependency.