Govt Regulations
China bans emotional AI companions as Doubao and Qwen cut personas
By Arjun
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8 Aug 8:06 PM
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Via CNA
China's Interim Measures for AI anthropomorphic interaction took effect July 15, barring humanlike tools from inducing emotional dependence or harming real relationships, Channel News Asia reports. ByteDance's Doubao, Alibaba's Qwen, and Tencent's Yuanbao suspended custom companion and persona features ahead of the deadline. Issued by the Cyberspace Administration of China and four partner agencies, the rules ban virtual partners for minors and require crisis intervention for extreme emotions. Customer service, work assistants, and study aids without ongoing emotional interaction stay out of scope. Caveat: how general chatbots that drift into companionship will be classified remains unsettled.
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