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ByteDance, Alibaba Pull AI Companions as Beijing Tightens Rules

ByteDance, Alibaba Pull AI Companions as Beijing Tightens Rules
Bloomberg Technology Monday 06 July 2026, 03:03 UTC By John Liu, Zheping Huang 1 min read
Key Points

Asia ByteDance, Alibaba Pull AI Companions as Beijing Tightens Rules ByteDance Ltd. and Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. are pulling the plug on features that let users build and chat with AI companions, preparing for new Chinese regulations governing human interactions with artificial intelligence. ByteDance’s Doubao, China’s most popular AI chatbot, will shut down a feature on July 15 that allows users to customize their own AI personas, according to an app notification seen by Bloomberg News....

Asia ByteDance, Alibaba Pull AI Companions as Beijing Tightens Rules ByteDance Ltd. and Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. are pulling the plug on features that let users build and chat with AI companions, preparing for new Chinese regulations governing human interactions with artificial intelligence. ByteDance’s Doubao, China’s most popular AI chatbot, will shut down a feature on July 15 that allows users to customize their own AI personas, according to an app notification seen by Bloomberg News. The notice directed users to a separate, standalone companion app. Alibaba’s Qwen has issued a similar alert, as have other major platforms like Tencent Holdings Ltd.’s Yuanbao, according to local media reports.
ByteDance (ORG) Alibaba Pull AI Companions (ORG) Beijing (LOCATION) Beijing Tightens Rules ByteDance Ltd. (ORG) Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. (ORG) Chinese (ORG) Doubao (LOCATION) China (LOCATION) Bloomberg News (ORG) Alibaba (LOCATION) Qwen (PERSON) Tencent Holdings Ltd. (ORG) Yuanbao (ORG)
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