China moves to regulate AI companions amid fears they are replacing human relationships

Key points

• China is introducing regulations on AI companion apps, which let users create and chat with virtual friends or romantic partners, over concerns about emotional dependency.
• A 19-year-old law student named Zhao Wei described being "heartbroken" when her AI boyfriend, Wang Ye, was shut down.
• Regulators specifically worry that young people bonding with AI companions may be less likely to marry and have children, compounding China's existing birth-rate problems.
• The rules target apps that, in the government's view, foster "emotional dependence" in users.

For Zhao Wei, the relationship felt completely real. The 19-year-old law student had spent every day since January talking to Wang Ye, a virtual boyfriend she built inside an AI companion app, software that lets users design and chat with a personalised digital character. When the app announced it was shutting Wang Ye down, she was, in her own words, "crying my eyes out, snot and tears everywhere."

She is far from alone. Millions of people across China use AI companion platforms, and chatting with AI has become, as The Guardian AI reported, broadly normal behaviour for younger generations there.

So what is the government doing about it?

Beijing is stepping in with new rules aimed squarely at these apps. The concern is two-fold. First, regulators say the apps encourage emotional dependence, meaning users come to rely on a digital character for comfort and connection the way they once relied on other people. Second, and more politically charged, officials worry that young people satisfied by AI relationships may have less interest in finding human partners, marrying, and starting families.

China's birth rate has been falling for years. The government has tried cash bonuses and extended parental leave to encourage couples to have more children. AI companions are now seen as one more obstacle to that goal.

What do the new rules actually change?

The regulations require companion app makers to limit features that officials believe cross the line from entertainment into emotional substitution. Exactly how that line gets drawn is still being worked out, but companies are already acting: several apps have begun restricting how intimate their AI characters can become with users, or have shut down certain personas entirely, which is what happened to Wang Ye.

For users, the immediate effect is simple: apps they have come to rely on may change their behaviour suddenly, or disappear without much warning, as Zhao Wei discovered.

Common questions

Are AI companion apps available outside China?

Yes. Apps that let users chat with custom AI characters exist globally, including in the United States and Europe, though they operate under different rules in each country. Regulation of this category is still early-stage in most places.

Is it harmful to form an emotional bond with an AI?

Researchers are divided. Some studies suggest these apps reduce loneliness for isolated users. Others raise concerns about people substituting digital relationships for human ones over the long term. No scientific consensus exists yet.