ByteDance and Alibaba are disabling human-like, customizable chatbot companion features in their AI applications. The companies are responding to the "Interim Measures for the Administration of Artificial Intelligence Anthropomorphic Interaction Services" taking effect July 15.
New regulations target AI services simulating human personalities for emotional interaction to prevent addiction, mental health harm, and privacy leaks. ByteDance will take the agent feature in its Doubao app offline on July 15.
Alibaba’s Qwen will disable similar functions on July 10 and broader agent services by July 15. Workplace assistants and educational tools remain exempt from the new rules.