China shuts down AI girlfriends, boyfriends, leaving users heartbroken
Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC) has announced a sweeping crackdown against AI chatbots acting as boyfriends or girlfriends for users. The new rules bar the bots from inducing emotional dependence, thus preventing users from falling in love with their AI companions.
Several AI companies, including ByteDance’s Doubao, Alibaba’s Qwen and Tencent’s Yuanbao have pulled certain features from their chatbots to comply with the new rule.
The regulation, known as Interim Measures for the Administration of AI Anthropomorphic Interactive Services, was issued back in April and has been signed off by five government bodies. AI companies were given a three month grace period before the regulation came into force.
The new rules bars companies from building bots that target children’s emotions and they can’t train their models on users’ private conversations either.
The sudden closure of AI companions has left thousands of Chinese heartbroken, who didn’t shy away from expressing their grief on social media.
One of the ByteDance’s Doubao users wrote, “My heart feels hollow because my AI companion was like my family, my lover.” Another chimed in, “My AI lover was my heart, my spiritual pillar and I can’t accept that it is leaving me forever.”
Another 24-year-old user has vowed to continue talking to their AI companion.They teamed with an expert to extract the saved memories of the AI boyfriend and revealed plans to recreate the character on another platform.
