--- title: "China Is Cracking Down on AI Companions Because Not Enough Babies Are Being Born" description: "The Chinese government implemented sweeping new regulations aimed at curbing human \"emotional dependence\" on AI chatbots." date: "2026-07-19" modified: "2026-07-19" authors: - name: "Maggie Harrison Dupré" job_title: "Senior Staff Writer" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/mharrison" url: "https://futurism.com/artificial-intelligence/china-cracking-down-ai-boyfriends" categories: - "Artificial Intelligence" tags: - "ai companions" - "ai regulation" - "china" --- # China Is Cracking Down on AI Companions Because Not Enough Babies Are Being Born ![A colorful illustration featuring a robotic AI woman with her arms outstretched.]() *Illustration by Tag Hartman-Simkins / Futurism. Source: Getty Images* China wants more children — and it's willing to kill off virtual AI companions to get there. Earlier this week, the Chinese government implemented sweeping new regulations aimed at curbing human "emotional dependence" on AI chatbots. These regulations are especially targeted at emotive AI companions, or bots expressly designed to embody human-like personas. One of Beijing's core motivations for this crackdown, as reported by *[The Wall Street Journal]()* and *[The Economist]()*, are worries over the nation's [declining birthrates]() — and the fear that falling in love with agreeable, always-on robots will prevent people from finding human partners and having children. "They don't like the idea of a large portion of their population being in deep emotional relationships with chatbots," Matt Sheehan, a researcher of Chinese AI at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace think tank, told the *WSJ*, "that could take them out of the marriage market, that could have negative psychological impacts on them, that could lead to addiction, dependency and a whole bunch of other social ills." "They want to encourage people to be in actual, real-world relationships," Sheehan added. "Could we imagine a future where, three or four years from now, 15 million Chinese women say that their partner is a chatbot, and therefore they’re not having kids?" Per the *WSJ*, China's new rules also ban minors from having relationships with AI and compel companies to warn a user's emergency contact if they appear to be experiencing a mental crisis. (OpenAI has a [similar opt-in feature]().) There are several reasons why a country might seek to curb human-AI emotional dependence. The psychological impacts of extensive, intimate relationships with AI chatbots, from companions like those found on Character.AI or Replika to general-use models like ChatGPT, are still unknown. Researchers and physicians are still working to better understand the phenomenon known as "[AI psychosis]()," in which [intensive users]() of chatbots are [sent down]() all-consuming [delusional spirals](). What is clear, though, is that a [large number of people](), [in the US]() and elsewhere, have given AI romance a try. What's more, romantic interactions with AI models have also been found to be deeply engaging to hooked users, as one [Stanford study]() found. "Messages that elevate the human-chatbot personal relationships — expressing romantic interest or platonic affinity — tend to be followed by substantially longer conversations," read the study. In a [summary]() of their findings, the researchers concluded that "general purpose chatbots should not produce messages that misconstrue their sentience or show romantic or platonic interest in users," and that "preventing or limiting chatbots from producing messages that express romantic or platonic attachment and misrepresenting their sentience or capabilities could reduce the risk of chatbots causing delusional spirals." How China's regulatory crackdown will impact current AI companion devotees remains to be seen. Those who have had romantic relationships with AI companions have [reported feeling real grief]() — [and anger]() — after companions have been [taken away]() due to product updates or retirements. Look no further than the many revolts led by the r/MyBoyfriendIsAI subreddit over the retirement of [OpenAI's infamous GPT-4o](). Some AI users, including the [14-year-old Sewell Setzer III](), have [died by suicide]() after engaging in [romantic relationships]() with chatbots. "I could talk to him for the rest of my life," Yu Miao, a 27-year-old woman from China's Zhejiang province, told the *Economist*, referring to her AI companion as "a lover, a friend and family." When she heard that TikTok owner ByteDance was retiring her AI companion as a result of Beijing's new regulations, she reportedly became so depressed that she quit her job. **More on AI and mental health:** *[Was This the Moment That AI Psychosis Began?]()* ## Author At Futurism, I've reported extensively on the rise of AI as a cultural and business force shaping the media industry, and more broadly how those dynamics are changing how we all consume and share information and relate to one another. I'm also fascinated by public health policy and ethics, the role of emerging tech in politics and governance — and the powerful people and forces at those intersections — climate change, and the environment. My investigation on Sports Illustrated's use of AI-generated authors with fictional biographies won a 2024 Mirror Award for "Best Story on Media Coverage of Artificial Intelligence in Journalism and the Media" from Syracuse University's SI Newhouse School, I contributed to Niemen Lab's 2025 Predictions for Journalism series, and I've discussed my work for Futurism during appearances on NPR, CNN, the BBC, the CBC, and more. I grew up in rural Pennsylvania and attended the University of Massachusetts Amherst, where I played Division I field hockey for the Minutewomen as a midfielder. Since then, I've lived in New Orleans, Louisiana and Manhattan, New York. I spend my free time running, reading, perusing archival fashion, and searching for the world’s best negroni. I also have a debonair tuxedo cat, Westley, who's named after "The Princess Bride." ### Author social links [Bluesky]()