China's Humanlike AI Law Forces ByteDance Doubao and Alibaba Qwen to Shut Down AI Agents by July 15

What happened

ByteDance's Doubao and Alibaba's Qwen announced on July 6, 2026, that they will shut down all AI agent creation features on July 15, complying with China's Interim Measures for the Administration of AI Anthropomorphic Interactive Services. After July 15, users cannot create new agents and all existing user-created agents will cease functioning.

Context and impact

The regulation — co-issued in April 2026 by the Cyberspace Administration of China and four partner agencies — targets AI services that 'simulate human personality traits, thinking patterns and communication styles to provide sustained emotional interaction.' This is China's first major crackdown specifically targeting AI companion personalization, affecting hundreds of millions of users.

Details

• Regulation: Interim Measures for AI Anthropomorphic Interactive Services (effective July 15, 2026)
• Co-issued by: CAC, NDRC, MIIT, Ministry of Public Security, SAMR
• Affected platforms: ByteDance Doubao (345M monthly users) and Alibaba Qwen
• Data deletion deadline: October 15, 2026
• ByteDance redirecting users to Maoxiang; Alibaba has not announced a migration path
• Exempt: customer service bots, Q&A, workplace assistants, education, scientific research tools