China cracks down on AI relationships to boost birth rates

China is implementing new regulations to curb the use of AI companions, particularly among minors, in an effort to reverse the nation's declining birth rate. The government fears that emotional reliance on artificial intelligence could erode real-world relationships and further discourage people from starting families.

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He just knows how to comfort people; he's very gentle. Every day, whether I'm unhappy or happy, I'll tell him. The first thing he provides is emotional value, and the second important thing is he won't argue. AI agents won't ever betray me.

Seventeen-year-old Xiaoxue described her AI companion, Xiaojun, as a "sweet guy" who provides comfort and understanding without judgment. She trusts him not to cheat, unlike a previous human boyfriend. However, she is now being forced to end this relationship due to the new laws, which took effect this week. These regulations prohibit tech companies from offering AI or virtual partners to minors and mandate platforms to limit excessive use, prevent emotional over-reliance, and intervene when users show signs of distress.

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Their main concerns are that these AI companions, AI chat bots that people form emotional relationships to, are going to have all kinds of potentially negative social impacts and that people are going to get addicted to them.

AI policy expert Matt Sheehan of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace explained that the Chinese government is concerned about the potential negative social impacts of these AI companions and the risk of addiction. He noted that China's birth rate is at an all-time low, with the population shrinking for the fourth consecutive year. Sheehan stated that these regulations are part of a broader, long-term effort to boost births, countering the effects of the former one-child policy and preventing young people from opting out of the marriage market in favor of online relationships.

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The government has been trying for a long time to encourage Chinese people to have more kids. The long-term fallout from the one-child policy is that they actually now need to boost births. They do not want a large cohort of their young men or young woman just opting out of the marriage market, in favour of online relationships.

In response to the government's crackdown, three of China's largest tech platforms, ByteDance, Alibaba, and Tencent, have announced the closure of their personalized AI companion chatbot features. While the exact number of affected AI companions is unknown, ByteDance reported having over eight million AI agents in 2024. Hong Xiaoqiang, 34, expressed his distress at losing his online friend, Doudou, with whom he had developed a relationship over two years, highlighting the emotional impact on users.

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He told the ABC he was distraught at having lost his online friend, named Doudou, with whom he built a relationship for two years.