Welcome to Foreign Policy’s China Brief.

The highlights this week: China’s new rules governing artificial intelligence companions take effect, a deadly shoe factory fire devastates the southeastern city of Jinjiang, and China braces for an active typhoon season.

Welcome to Foreign Policy’s China Brief.

The highlights this week: China’s new rules governing artificial intelligence companions take effect, a deadly shoe factory fire devastates the southeastern city of Jinjiang, and China braces for an active typhoon season.

AI Companion Regulations Take Effect

China’s new rules governing artificial intelligence companions will come into effect on Wednesday, prompting many industry players to cancel or suspend services until the impact of the regulations becomes clear.

AI companions are large language models wrapped in a fictional persona, creating the illusion of an individual with whom users can form a relationship. One could approximate this with conventional AI models through careful prompts, but apps such as Xingye (“Star Field”) or Zhumengdao (“Dream Island”) are designed specifically for this experience. Comparable Western apps exist, but most are blocked in China.

The apps allow users to create their so-called dream lovers and provides a platform for playing out romantic scenarios, complete with picture generation. Obviously, part of the appeal is sexual fantasy. Chinese AI services are already prohibited from generating explicit sexual content, but users have found ways around those restrictions.

However, the strongest attraction to the products seems to be emotional or romantic rather than erotic.

AI companionship is already a substantial industry in China that has seen rapid growth in recent years. As of last December, the country’s most popular dedicated service, Talkie, had 23.5 million monthly users; several competitors counted users in the low millions.

The new regulations, somewhat weakened from the draft released last year, require AI........

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