ByteDance, Alibaba to disable humanlike AI companions as China tightens rules

Two of China’s major consumer-facing artificial intelligence (AI) apps, Doubao by ByteDance and Alibaba’s Qwen, have informed their users that their “agent” feature will go offline on July 15 for “product function adjustments”. The date coincides with the implementation of new rules for AI services that mimic human personality traits and provide emotional support.