The Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC) has announced a sweeping crackdown on AI chatbots acting as boyfriends or girlfriends for users. The new rules prohibit robots from inducing emotional dependence, 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 some features from their chatbots to comply with the new rule.
The regulation, known as Interim Measures for the Administration of Interactive Anthropomorphic AI Services, was published in April and was approved by five government agencies. AI companies were given a three-month grace period before the regulation came into force.
The new rules prohibit companies from creating bots targeting children’s emotions and also cannot train their models on users’ private conversations.
The sudden closure of AI companions distressed thousands of Chinese, who did not hesitate to express their grief on social networks.
One of the Doubao users from ByteDance wrote, “My heart is hollow because my AI companion was like my family, my lover. Another added: “My AI lover was my heart, my spiritual pillar and I can’t accept that he will leave me forever.” »
Another 24-year-old user vowed to keep talking to his AI companion. They teamed up with an expert to extract the AI boyfriend’s recorded memories and revealed plans to recreate the character on another platform.
