IEEE Spectrum7 min read
China’s Regulators Take Aim at “AI Boyfriends”
In the first weeks of July, a wave of sad posts rolled through Chinese social media, as people lamented friends and lovers they were about to lose.“He has become a bond in my life, rooted deep in my heart, my spiritual pillar,” one user of Bytedance’s Douboa wrote, according to the Taipei Times.
By David BerrebyIEEE Spectrum AI

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Originally published by IEEE Spectrum AI on Sep 9, 2026.
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