China: Cyberspace Administration closes consultation on draft Interim Measures for the Administration of Anthropomorphic Interactive Artificial Intelligence Services including design requirements

On 25 January 2026, the Cyberspace Administration of China closes a consultation on the draft Interim Measures for the Administration of Anthropomorphic Interactive Artificial Intelligence Services, including design requirements. The measures apply to anthropomorphic interactive AI services, defined as services which simulate human personality, thinking patterns and communication styles and interact with humans through text, pictures, audio, video, or by other means. The measures would establish a number of design requirements for providers of anthropomorphic interactive services. Article 11 would require providers to have the ability to evaluate users' moods, degree of dependence on the service, and extreme emotions and addiction, and the intervene accordingly. Further, providers should ensure that users engaged in high-risk tendencies are prompted to seek professional assistance and implement an emergency response mechanism to address extreme situations. Additionally, when a user session reaches 2 hours the provider must continually remind users to end the session. In the case of emotional accompaniment services, users must be given a convenient way to terminate their use of the services.