ByteDance and Alibaba are disabling AI companion features ahead of new China rules

Beijing's rules on humanlike AI interaction services take effect July 15, targeting emotional dependence and content harmful to minors

New Chinese regulations set to take effect July 15 are forcing ByteDance and Alibaba Group Holding to wind down tools that let users create and engage with personalized AI companion figures.

An in-app notification reviewed by Bloomberg revealed that Doubao, ByteDance's AI chatbot and the most widely used in China, plans to remove its persona customization capability when the rules take effect. Alibaba's Qwen has issued a similar alert. Tencent Holdings' Yuanbao has also made comparable moves, according to the South China Morning Post.

Before the rollback, both platforms gave users access to rosters of AI agents that could be tailored around particular abilities, topics, and conversational tone — whether........

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