ByteDance and Alibaba both announced over the weekend they are disabling custom agent features in their biggest consumer AI products, citing "product function adjustments" ahead of new rules that govern such products taking effect.
The regulation targets AI services that simulate human personality traits, thinking patterns, and communication styles for "sustained emotional interaction." Translation: AI girlfriends, AI therapists, AI companions, and the custom-persona bots that Doubao and Qwen users spent months building are out.
Both apps had offered pools of agents customizable for specific tasks, speaking styles, and fixed personas. Users could turn a general-purpose chatbot into a named assistant, tutor, role-playing character, or companion with a consistent tone. All of that is gone now in China.
What the rules actually sayThe official government description is specific. The measures impose restrictions on services offering "virtual relatives, virtual companions or other intimate relationships to minors," per the policy announcement. The document also cites risks including extremist content, privacy leaks, harm to physical and mental health—and AI addiction.
Non-emotional services are explicitly excluded, so customer service bots, knowledge Q&A tools, workplace assistants, and educational software are fine, as long as they don't cross into sustained emotional interaction.
