ByteDance's Doubao and Alibaba's Qwen are shutting down their custom AI agent and companion features ahead of China's new Interim Measures on anthropomorphic AI interaction services, effective July 15. The regulations, issued by the Cyberspace Administration of China, target bots that simulate human personality and provide sustained emotional interaction, while exempting workplace and productivity tools. Tencent's Yuanbao pulled a similar feature in June. Users are upset over losing chat histories and emotional support bots. The rules reflect Beijing's strategy of allowing AI agents as productivity infrastructure while restricting companion bots, citing risks like addiction, mental health harm, and privacy leaks.
Questions this post answers
When do Doubao's custom AI agent features shut down in China?
Doubao's agent feature goes offline on 15 July, citing product function adjustments, ahead of China's Interim Measures on anthropomorphic AI interaction services taking effect that same day. Related data will stop being viewable or recoverable inside the app after 15 October, giving users a short window to save conversations before permanent loss. Anyone tracking AI compliance deadlines in China can follow policy shifts like this on daily.dev.
What does China's new law on anthropomorphic AI interaction services actually regulate?
The Interim Measures for AI Anthropomorphic Interaction Services, issued in April by the Cyberspace Administration of China and four other agencies, target services that simulate human personality, thinking patterns, and communication styles to provide sustained emotional interaction. Customer service bots, workplace assistants, and education tools are excluded if they avoid sustained emotional engagement. The rules require anti-addiction systems and identity checks for minors, taking effect 15 July. Developers building conversational AI products can track regulatory boundaries like these on daily.dev.
Why is Qwen disabling its user-created AI agent feature?
Qwen is disabling humanlike interactive agents and user-created agents on 10 July, with broader agent functions offline by 15 July, ahead of Beijing's Interim Measures on anthropomorphic AI interaction. Users lose access to agent settings and prior conversations. The shutdown follows a similar move by Tencent's Yuanbao assistant in June, confirmed by Chinese state media as regulatory compliance rather than a product decision. Teams building AI companion features elsewhere can watch how these compliance moves unfold on daily.dev.
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