China Enforces Humanlike AI Rules, Agent Features Removed

China's new AI regulations take effect July 15, 2026, forcing ByteDance's Doubao and Alibaba's Qwen to disable agent and persona features. The 'Interim Measures for the Administration of AI Anthropomorphic Interactive Services' is the first national rule targeting humanlike AI interactions.

Regulatory enforcement in a large market changes the operational baseline for consumer-facing conversational agents and privacy/compliance reviews. Reporting in Decrypt and coverage by Amin Shamim say ByteDance's Doubao and Alibaba's Qwen are disabling their agent/persona features ahead of new rules; Amin Shamim reports Doubao's agent goes offline on July 15, 2026 , while Qwen disabled humanlike and user-created agents on July 10, 2026 and will disable broader agent services on July 15, 2026 . Amin Shamim identifies the rule as the "Interim Measures for the Administration of AI Anthropomorphic Interactive Services," which reporting says takes effect on July 15, 2026 . This is the first national Chinese regulation explicitly targeting humanlike AI interactions, according to the same coverage.