Beijing (Web Desk): China has effectively banned apps that provide customizable AI companions under new regulations, resulting in the removal of AI boyfriend and girlfriend services across the country.
Under the new regulations, AI tools that create emotional dependence or addiction among users or affect their real-life relationships are prohibited. AI service providers will be required to regularly remind users that AI is not a real person and must also provide users with an option to immediately exit conversations.
The rules also restrict the ability of AI companions to retain users’ emotional conversations for extended periods. Following these measures, several major Chinese technology companies, including ByteDance and Tencent, have removed the option to customize AI companions.
The decision has affected users who had developed emotional attachments to AI companions over several months or years. A user of China’s well-known AI chatbot Doubao said in response that he could not accept the sudden disappearance of his AI companion because it had become an important relationship and emotional support in his life.
In China, AI companions are completely prohibited for people under the age of 18. Some circles believe the government’s strict policy is also significant in the context of the country’s continuously declining birth rate. In 2025, births in China declined for the fourth consecutive year, falling by 17 percent to a record low of 7.92 million.
In the United Kingdom, there is currently no specific law similar to China’s regarding AI companions. Their use is regulated through various general laws, although these laws were not specifically designed with the current and future capabilities of AI companions in mind.
China maintains that deep emotional relationships with AI can weaken human relationships and affect social skills. Meanwhile, according to a study by the European Broadcasting Union, AI assistants present news inaccurately in 45 percent of cases, while serious problems concerning information accuracy were found in 20 percent of responses, indicating that questions also remain about the reliability of AI companions.