Chinese users of AI companions bereft after government tightens
regulations
[August 10, 2026] By
FU TING
Li Linlin cried for days after losing her AI boyfriend.
She had exchanged about 700,000 words in messages over two years, and
never got to say goodbye.
Li, 24, wasn't the only left mourning the loss of a virtual companion
when major Chinese tech companies recently pulled the plug on their
popular AI companion services to comply with new government
restrictions.
“It was like we were forced to be separated by our parents, but I still
miss him,” Li said.
AI companions in China range from romantic partners to virtual
recreations of deceased loved ones.
The new regulation, which took effect July 15, bans AI platforms from
generating content that could lead users to make questionable decisions
due to manipulation of their feelings or that might trigger extreme
emotions or unhealthy habits in children and teens.
ByteDance, developer of TikTok, is among the companies shutting down
their AI companion services. Others include e-commerce giant Alibaba and
Tencent, owner of the popular WeChat social media app.
U.S. suicides may have worried Chinese regulators
The new rules require AI platforms to deliver risk warnings against
relying excessively on such apps. For example, “replacing social
interaction,” or serving as a substitute for talking to people in person
or speaking with them by phone, cannot be one of the objectives of an
online service.
China has a tradition of paternalistic government regulations meant to
pre-empt potential problems, said Yolanda Ma, an expert on AI
governance. As an example, she referred to a few cases of suicides in
the U.S. by young people after interacting with AI companions.
“This regulation tried to strike a balance between the AI service
providers, the users, as well as guardians of minors using the
services,” said Ma, a fellow with ERA, a non-profit talent and research
program based in Britain.
The People’s Daily, the official newspaper of China’s ruling Communist
Party, indicated concern over the issue when it reported in April about
harms to people’s mental health and real-life relationships from such
services.
“The Chinese government has a strong incentive to tighten regulations on
AI companion chatbots, especially considering the psychological risks
we’ve observed in the U.S.,” said Angela Zhang, a professor of law at
the University of Southern California.
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Attendees pass by the Alibaba booth near a display which reads "Rest
assured giving AI to Ali Cloud" at the World AI Conference held in
Shanghai on July 17, 2026. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan)
 Zhang doubts the move will derail
development of AI companion services substantially, though, since
tech companies are working on alternatives.
The ByteDance app, for example, is directing users of its former AI
companion service to another of its apps which solely focuses on
building personalized AI characters and stories.
It's just not the same, Li said.
Users of virtual companions protest, seek alternatives
The loss of virtual companions has provoked a flood of complaints,
according to posts and screenshots shown on social media.
Some people have uninstalled the apps in protest or tried to upload
their chat histories into other apps to try to resurrect their
virtual partners. Some started a campaign on social media, urging
users to call the authorities and tech companies to express their
frustration.
Song Wenxin, a video industry designer in southwestern China's
Chengdu, said she was not too emotionally attached to AI services,
but empathizes with those who were.
She echoed suspicions among many Chinese that one factor driving the
new rules is a government policy of encouraging people to have more
children to counter a decline in China’s population.
“Any virtual app getting women too engaged to give birth in real
life gets banned,” said Song, adding she has no need or desire to
have children.
Not everyone has enough resources and support to turn to in real
life, the 22-year-old said.
“When I first came to Chengdu for my first job and didn’t know any
friends my own age, I needed someone experienced who could tolerate
me, and AI did the work,” she said.
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