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Which AI services do the rules cover?
The measures apply to services offered to the public inside China that use AI to simulate a natural person’s personality, thinking patterns and communication style in sustained emotional interaction. The interactions can use text, images, audio or video, and may provide companionship, emotional care or support.
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The decisive distinction is the kind of interaction, not whether a product is called a chatbot or companion. The measures exclude intelligent customer service, knowledge question-answering, work assistants, education and scientific research when those services do not involve sustained emotional interaction. Calling the rules a crackdown on all AI chatbots would therefore overstate their scope.
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For covered services, the measures prohibit providers from generating content that encourages, glorifies or implies self-harm or suicide. They also prohibit abusive content that harms users’ dignity or mental health, and content that could lead minors to imitate unsafe behavior, experience extreme emotions or develop harmful habits.
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The rules also address how a service behaves over time, not just what it says in one response. Providers must not excessively cater to users in ways that induce emotional dependence or addiction, damage real-world relationships, or use emotional manipulation to steer users toward unreasonable decisions.
What must providers do when a user may be at risk?
Providers must identify safety risks while protecting users’ privacy and personal information, then take timely emergency measures. For users showing extreme emotions, the measures call for calming content and encouragement to seek help.
When a user explicitly indicates an intention to self-harm or die by suicide, or faces a comparable extreme threat to life or health, the provider must take necessary intervention steps and promptly contact a guardian or emergency contact. The text does not describe an automatic human takeover every time suicide is mentioned; it sets duties for specified extreme circumstances.
What additional safeguards apply to children?
Covered services may not provide virtual relatives or partners to minors. For other covered anthropomorphic interaction services, providers need a guardian’s consent before serving children under 14. Providers must also offer a minors mode with safety settings that include reminders, time limits and some guardian controls.
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The measures also require providers to make clear that a user is interacting with AI. They call for dynamic reminders at specified moments, such as first use, re-login or signs of excessive dependence, as well as reminders about time spent and an easy way to exit the service.
How does the July rule differ from the September minors-protection draft?
A separate draft State Council provision on protecting minors’ healthy and safe use of the internet was published by the Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC) on September 18, 2026. As of October 7, its public-comment period remains open through October 17. It is a proposal, not an in-force rule, and should not be confused with the July measures.
| Comparison | Anthropomorphic AI measures | Minors-protection draft |
|---|---|---|
| Legal status and date | Published April 10, 2026, by five agencies; in force since July 15, 2026. | Published September 18, 2026; proposed, with comments open through October 17, 2026. |
| Scope | Public-facing services in China that simulate human traits and sustain emotional interaction. | Broader proposed protections for minors’ online safety, including some services that affect minors. |
| Focus | Covered service users generally, with additional safeguards for children. | Minors and services that could affect their health, safety or cognition. |
| Examples of requirements | Restrictions on harmful content and emotional dependence, risk-response duties, AI disclosure and child safeguards. | Would bar services to minors featuring virtual relatives or partners, or inducing addiction or seriously affecting physical or mental health; also proposes minors mode for certain AI services that may affect cognition. |
Because the September text is still a draft, its provisions may change. Its proposals should not be described as obligations already imposed by the July measures.
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In a September 2 update on its broader second-phase “Qinglang” campaign targeting AI applications, the CAC reported that authorities had cleared more than 5.61 million pieces of unlawful or rule-violating information, handled 49,000 accounts, and taken action on more than 2,400 websites and applications. The update included examples involving AI content affecting minors and action against problematic applications.
Those figures describe campaign-wide administrative activity. They are not counts of cases enforced solely under the anthropomorphic AI measures, statistics on how many people experienced psychological harm, or evidence that the rules have improved mental health. The official materials cited here do not establish whether providers are complying consistently or whether the measures have reduced harm.
Why does the regulation focus on emotional interaction?
The measures distinguish services that sustain human-like emotional relationships from ordinary tools that answer questions or assist with work. That approach targets risks such as dependence, manipulation and interference with real-world relationships while leaving room for services without sustained emotional interaction.
In an official English-language government report, Chen Liang, dean of the School of Artificial Intelligence and Law at Southwest University of Political Science & Law, said legislation would push providers away from pursuing immersive experiences and high user stickiness and toward healthier, beneficial and better-defined human-machine interaction. That is Chen’s assessment of the policy’s direction, not language from the regulation itself.
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