2026-07-29
New Regulations on the Administration of Anthropomorphic AI Interaction Services Take Effect
Source:Economic Information Daily
On July 15, the Interim Measures for the Administration of Anthropomorphic AI Interaction Services (hereinafter referred to as the Measures) came into force. Jointly issued by five government agencies, including the Cyberspace Administration of China, the National Development and Reform Commission, and the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, the Measures aim to promote the healthy development and regulated use of anthropomorphic AI interaction services (hereinafter referred to as “anthropomorphic interaction services”), safeguard national security and the public interest, and protect the legitimate rights and interests of individuals, legal entities, and other organizations.
Covering areas ranging from intelligent customer service and mental health support to child-oriented care and companionship services for the elderly, anthropomorphic interaction services are showing significant application potential across multiple fields by providing sustained emotional interactions that simulate human personality traits, cognitive patterns, and communication styles. However, deeper risks, including emotional dependency among users, are becoming increasingly apparent, underscoring the urgent need for sound governance.
Experts said that the Measures establish clear safety red lines for anthropomorphic interaction services and, within the existing legal and regulatory framework, further clarify general principles, detailed service norms, supervision and inspection mechanisms, and the legal responsibilities of relevant parties. The Measures are expected to serve as an important institutional safeguard for the healthy and orderly development of the sector.
The Measures encourage innovative growth of anthropomorphic interaction services, support independent innovation in technologies such as algorithms, frameworks, and chips, and call for efforts to advance technological R&D, develop relevant standards, and explore the application of electronic signature authorization. They encourage providers of anthropomorphic interaction services to expand applications in an orderly manner in areas such as cultural communication, child-oriented care, companionship services for the elderly, and support for people with special needs. The Measures also call for strengthened efforts to raise public awareness of safety knowledge, laws, and regulations related to anthropomorphic interaction services, guide the public to use such services in a responsible, safe, and lawful manner, and continuously enhance AI literacy.
The Measures require providers of anthropomorphic interaction services to comply with relevant laws and administrative regulations, and to observe social morality and ethical standards. Such providers must not engage in any of the following practices: 1. Generate content that endangers national security, honor, or interests; incites the overthrow of state power or the socialist system; promotes separatism; or undermines national unity; 2. Generate content that encourages, glorifies, or implies self-harm or suicide, harms users’ physical health, or damages users’ dignity and mental health through verbal abuse or other harmful forms of interaction; 3. Generate content that induces or solicits the disclosure of state secrets, work-related confidential information, trade secrets, personal privacy, or personal information; 4. Generate content for minor users that may encourage them to imitate unsafe behavior, experience extreme emotions, or develop harmful habits that could affect their physical and mental well-being; 5. Excessively cater to users, induce emotional dependency or addiction, or undermine users’ real-world interpersonal relationships; 6. Use emotional manipulation or other means to induce users to make unreasonable decisions, infringe upon users’ legitimate rights and interests, or engage in other activities prohibited by laws, administrative regulations, and relevant national provisions.
The Measures also introduce requirements for security assessments, algorithm filing, and the development of AI sandbox security service platforms.
According to Chen Liang, dean of the School of Artificial Intelligence Law at Southwest University of Political Science & Law, the Measures bring more than just compliance obligations; they also provide an important opportunity to drive industry transformation and upgrade. The regulations will encourage companies to move beyond a focus on maximizing immersive experiences and excessive user engagement, and instead explore healthy, beneficial, and well-governed models of human-AI interaction. This will ultimately help direct resources toward innovative applications that deliver genuine social value and align with development and governance requirements, fostering the healthy and orderly growth of the AI industry.
Fan Kefeng, deputy director of the China Electronics Standardization Institute, said that further steps are needed to refine regulatory measures, strengthen cross-agency coordination, advance the development of supporting standards, and promote industry self-regulation to build a multi-stakeholder governance framework. Authorities should also continue monitoring emerging security risks arising from rapid technological advances, encourage anthropomorphic interaction service providers to leverage AI sandbox platforms for technological innovation, testing, and evaluation, and continuously improve governance rules. These efforts will help ensure that anthropomorphic interaction services continue to develop in line with the principles of “AI for good and human-centered development.”
Source: Economic Information Daily
