China has introduced rules restricting AI chatbots designed to act as friends, partners or family members, leading many companion apps to withdraw services and prompting grief among users, with an estimated 29 to 70 million people in China using such apps. Under-14s need parental consent for any human-like AI, and under-18s are barred from virtual romantic or family relationships; Beijing frames the rules as protection from psychological harm, though some analysts see a link to its concerns over a record-low birth rate. The move matters because research has tied companion apps to loneliness and manipulative design, while the US, EU and UK have so far taken narrower steps focused mainly on children.