Chinese regulator drafts rules to protect teenagers from ‘intimate’ AI companions

AI Summary

China's internet watchdog is drafting rules to protect minors by banning social platforms and games from offering virtual intimacy or companion services powered by AI, aiming to ensure safe and healthy internet use among teenagers.

China’s top internet watchdog has drafted new rules to regulate how social platforms and game developers should protect minors, including a ban on offering “virtual intimacy services” to those under 18 as artificial intelligence-powered companions gain traction. The rules, titled “Ensuring minors’ safe and healthy use of the internet”, would ban online platforms from providing “virtual relatives or companions”, and prohibit them from offering services that “induce minors to become addicted or...