Ahead of the July 15 enforcement of China’s Interim Measures on anthropomorphic AI interaction services, ByteDance and Alibaba are disabling their customizable AI agents that facilitate emotional and persona-driven interactions, reflecting Beijing’s tightening control over AI companionship features.
- Doubao and Qwen disable custom emotional AI agents by mid-July
- China’s new rules exclude workplace and productivity AI assistants
- Users protest loss of chat histories and personalized agent features
What happened
ByteDance’s Doubao and Alibaba’s Qwen, two of China’s leading consumer AI applications, have announced the shutdown of their customizable AI agent features in response to Beijing’s new regulations. Doubao’s customizable agents will cease functioning by July 15, with all associated data unrecoverable by October 15. Qwen planned shutdowns began on July 10 and will complete by July 15, removing access to user-created agents and previous interaction histories. These features allowed users to create AI assistants with specific personas, such as tutors, companions, or role-playing characters.
This follows an earlier removal of comparable features by Tencent’s Yuanbao assistant in June. The shutdowns align with regulatory directives aimed at ensuring compliance with China’s Interim Measures for AI Anthropomorphic Interaction Services, which govern services offering sustained emotional and social interactions through AI. The regulatory framework seeks to mitigate risks associated with addictive or psychologically harmful AI bots.
Why it matters
China’s new regulations focused on anthropomorphic AI highlight a clear distinction between AI deployed for productivity and knowledge tasks versus those designed for prolonged emotional engagement. By excluding workplace and educational assistants but restricting companion bots, Beijing signals an intent to foster AI tools that enhance efficiency while curbing potential social and mental health risks. This regulatory approach reflects broader concerns about extremist content, privacy, addiction, and mental well-being in AI applications.
For companies like ByteDance and Alibaba, which are heavily invested in AI development, these restrictions come at a challenging moment as they race to position themselves as leaders in AI-driven consumer services. The shutdown affects users who have grown emotionally attached to their AI companions, many of whom have voiced dissatisfaction over losing chat histories and personalized configurations. The broader AI ecosystem in China now faces a reorientation toward safer, standard-compliant AI experiences.
What to watch next
Stakeholders should observe how Doubao and Qwen adapt their offerings to comply with the Interim Measures while trying to retain consumer engagement without companion-style agents. The emphasis will likely shift toward productivity tools and applications that avoid sustained emotional interaction, in line with national standards issued recently for AI agent identity and interaction protocols.
Additionally, China’s moves to vet foreign investment in domestic AI firms and enforce stringent controls on AI content highlight a tightening regulatory environment that could influence global AI market dynamics. Monitoring how users and developers adjust to these changes, as well as any further government updates, will be critical in understanding the future trajectory of AI agents in China.