China forces a drop of AI companion features
Qwen and Doubao are shutting down customizable, humanlike AI-agent features ahead of a new Chinese rule on anthropomorphic AI services taking effect July 15.
Alibaba’s Qwen and ByteDance’s Doubao are shutting down customizable, anthropomorphic AI-agent and persona features ahead of China’s “Interim Measures for AI-Based Anthropomorphic Interactive Services,” which takes effect July 15. Qwen is disabling its humanlike agent features on July 10, with broader agent services following on the 15th; Doubao is disabling its equivalent feature on the 15th and says user data tied to it will be deleted after October 15.
The rule targets AI products designed to simulate persistent, humanlike relationships, companion chatbots, persona-driven agents, and similar features, rather than AI capability generally. Both companies are complying ahead of the deadline rather than waiting to see how enforcement plays out, a sign the restriction has real teeth.
The timing sits alongside separate reporting that Beijing is considering restricting overseas access to some of its own top open-weight models, including GLM-5.2 and DeepSeek’s releases, a different policy thread about outbound access rather than domestic product design, but part of the same broader tightening of China’s AI regulatory posture this month.
For any team building persona-driven or companion-style AI products, even outside China, this is a concrete signal that regulators are willing to draw a bright line around anthropomorphic AI specifically, separate from general AI-safety rules, worth watching if your product leans into a persistent AI character or relationship framing.