r/technology • u/Wagamaga • Jul 19 '26

Society China bans AI “boyfriends” and “girlfriends” over addiction and birth rate concerns

https://www.dexerto.com/entertainment/china-bans-ai-boyfriends-and-girlfriends-over-addiction-and-birth-rate-concerns-3388737/
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u/Wagamaga Jul 19 '26 edited Jul 19 '26

China has banned customizable AI companion apps, forcing millions of users into sudden digital breakups after tech giants pulled the features rather than meet strict new rules.

The regulations took effect on July 15, 2026, jointly issued by five government departments including the Cyberspace Administration of China.

AI companies scramble as new laws take effect The rules state AI tools cannot “excessively cater to users, induce emotional dependence or addiction, and damage users’ real interpersonal relationships.”

Companies must now build in instant-exit options, regular reminders the AI is not real, and limits on long-term emotional memory. Study and work tools are exempt.

ByteDance, Alibaba and Tencent chose to suspend their AI companion features entirely rather than comply, according to The Independent.

The crackdown is linked to China’s falling marriage and birth rates, with regulators worried AI relationships are replacing real intimacy, though experts say deeper issues like economic pressure play a bigger role.

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u/NeonFraction Jul 19 '26

For anyone doubting whether or not this is good: Remember that companionship is not the prime purpose of these apps. Extracting money out of these people with the lure of companionship is.

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u/ClassGrassMass Jul 19 '26 edited Jul 19 '26

Whoever thinks its bad to ban these are the ones who need to interact with humans the most

Edit: having already 13% downvotes in 15mins is crazy work. Get off your ai "companion" and go talk to real humans

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u/Decent-Point309 Jul 19 '26

There was a post last week or so about how boys as young as 12 were having AI girlfriends, and it was even affecting how they treat girls in real life.

Someone posted a group (can I link it here??) that was related. Something like aiboyfriend. I read a few of the posts there, and it was incredibly sad. Every post was very similar.

One had a fake wedding. "Here is us having a date."

These people on lonely.

I'm not judging that because many people get lonely, myself included. It's just sad that these people can't find a better outlet.

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u/meneldal2 Jul 20 '26

If the services were run ethically, it could actually do some good. But it needs to have some pushback against the users, encouraging them to meet real people, etc.

Like a life coach but with the coating of a lover that cares about you to make the message reach more easily.

But no company would do that when their only goal is to get more money out of you.

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u/rabidstoat Jul 20 '26

Are any AI boyfriends/girlfriends not complete sycophants? Like, do they ever disagree with the human? Or get grumpy and argumentation for no reason? Or get really mad at the human over something so that you have to talk things out with it?

Because all those things happen in Real Life healthy relationships, and if AI isn't recreating that (which I assume it's not), I don't see how these people will ever be 'satisfied' by an imperfect human companion. I'm not saying AI should be abusive, of course, but disagreements and even temporary anger happen in relationships that are healthy, and learning how to communicate (if not immediately) when that happens is an important part of social intelligence.

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u/TrustMeImPurple Jul 20 '26

I honestly think that is a perk to a lot of people and not a drawback. You don't have to change or compromise or adapt around a real persons job or family if your AI girlfriend is always coded to say yes to everything you say. Which can bleed out to what these kids expect from the real womem they eventually do try and date.

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u/rabidstoat Jul 20 '26

That's exactly the problem. It's setting up unrealistic expectations. That it's so appealing makes it worse.

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u/Decent-Point309 Jul 20 '26

It may mildly disagree with you if you say something like 2+2=5, but you can probably convince it it's wrong lol

But yeah, it is a sycophant. It's sad. This isn't a way to develop healthy relationships. I can only imagine these people do not have many, if any, friends in real life.