China has enacted a new law that greatly affects the Artificial Intelligence (AI) industry, specifically focusing on AI agents that impersonate roles such as romantic partners, deceased individuals, or pets for minors. This legislation establishes strict regulations on anthropomorphic AI systems, which are intended to engage with human-like interaction.
Beijing also imposes prohibitions on AI technologies that encourage suicide, disseminate hate speech, or collect personal information without authorization. Prominent AI firms in China, including Alibaba, Tencent, and ByteDance, have ceased offering such anthropomorphic AI services in response. Pan Helin, representing the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, highlights the necessary maturity level for engaging with AI agents.
The regulation does not apply to AI used in customer service and professional environments to preserve China’s competitive advantage in the digital sector. Nevertheless, the utilization of AI for personal interactions is favored by young individuals in the US and Europe, although numerous parents are concerned about AI being their child’s closest companion.
Legal scholars from Nanjing University have suggested a “Fundamental AI Law 1.0,” inspired by EU digital policies, which has attracted attention from the Chinese government. Similarly, the European Union is advancing legislation to govern online platforms due to worries about their possible effects on the mental health of minors.
