China is moving to tighten oversight of artificial intelligence (AI) technologies in a novel and far‑reaching regulatory push aimed at protecting children, preventing self‑harm and limiting harmful AI content. Draft rules released at the end of 2025 by the Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC) signal a significant expansion of Beijing’s efforts to govern AI in the public sphere — with a special focus on safeguarding minors and emotional wellbeing amid rising concerns over the social impact of AI tools.
The proposed measures would establish stringent requirements for AI services — particularly chatbots and emotionally interactive systems — to ensure they provide safe, age‑appropriate content and do not encourage self‑harm, addiction or other harmful behaviours. The draft regulations are now open for public feedback ahead of final adoption.
Regulatory Response to AI Risks for Children
At the heart of China’s new AI strategy is a desire to create a safer digital environment for minors. The draft rules would oblige AI providers to set up guardian consent systems before offering emotionally interactive or companion‑style AI services to users identified as children. Operators would also be required to provide personalised parental controls and usage limits, including settings that restrict prolonged engagement for younger users.
In addition, chatbots would be prohibited from generating content that promotes gambling, violence or self‑harm, and any conversation in which a user expresses suicidal intent would need to be escalated to a human moderator and trigger immediate notification of a guardian or emergency contact. These provisions reflect growing concerns in China and globally about the influence of AI on mental health, particularly among vulnerable populations.
Context: Rising Safety and Content Concerns
The proposed rules come amid broader efforts by Chinese regulators to manage the consequences of rapid AI adoption and combat harmful digital content. Earlier campaigns by the CAC and local authorities had already targeted illegal or inappropriate AI‑generated material and tightened supervision of online platforms, reinforcing Beijing’s focus on content safety and youth protection in cyberspace.
China has also expressed concerns about the emotional impact of AI interactions. The draft rules form part of a wider regulatory push to govern “human‑like” AI services that simulate personality or emotional engagement — a category that increasingly includes conversational agents and AI companions developed by both domestic startups and global tech firms.
Key Provisions in China’s Draft AI Rules
The draft AI regulations outlined by the CAC contain several noteworthy elements designed to protect children and manage risk:
- Guardian Consent and Age Verification: AI platforms would need to verify whether users are minors and obtain parental approval before offering age‑sensitive services.
- Usage Time Limits and Monitoring: Operators must limit usage hours for younger users and provide warnings when engagement is prolonged, aiming to reduce addictive behaviour.
- Prohibitions on Harmful Content: Chatbots would be banned from creating content that encourages self‑harm, violence, obscene or gambling‑related material.
- Human Intervention in Risk Situations: If a user expresses ideation related to suicide or self‑harm, systems must route conversations to humans and alert guardians.
- Continuous Use Reminders: Platforms would be required to remind users they are interacting with AI and potentially limit continuous usage, especially for younger users.
These measures reflect an emphasis on emotional safety, psychological wellbeing and responsible use of AI, particularly where it intersects with children’s daily lives and mental health.
Industry Growth and Regulatory Challenges
The regulatory tightening comes as Chinese AI startups and major tech firms — including companies like DeepSeek, Z.ai and Minimax — have seen rapid uptake of AI services across China, including tools that attract young users and provide companionship or emotional support. While Beijing encourages the development of AI for cultural dissemination and elderly care, officials have made it clear that safety and accountability must accompany innovation.
The draft rules could impose significant compliance burdens on AI companies, particularly those offering chatbots and human‑interactive features that now face new safety, consent, and monitoring requirements. Failure to comply with the final regulations could expose companies to fines, removal from app stores or other enforcement actions.
Broader Legal and Policy Landscape
China’s AI crackdown aligns with a longer trajectory of digital governance and youth protection policies. The CAC has previously reinforced rules related to minors’ online behaviour, including campaigns against harmful content and cyber activities that violate children’s rights. Under existing laws such as the Regulations on the Protection of Minors in Cyberspace, authorities already impose restrictions on addictive services and content that may harm minors’ development.
Meanwhile, courts have underscored the importance of curbing online risks by urging stricter regulation of minors’ digital behaviour and requiring platforms to work with guardians and legal systems to prevent harm.
Global Context: AI Safety and Child Protection
China’s approach mirrors wider global concerns about AI’s impact on children and teens. Regulators in other countries, including the United States and Australia, have taken steps to require AI providers to explain or improve safeguards for children interacting with chatbots and digital platforms, especially regarding sexually explicit or self‑harm content.
However, China’s draft rules are among the most comprehensive and stringent efforts to date to govern AI with specific emotional and behavioural safeguards, particularly in the context of youth protection and mental health risk mitigation. Experts note that while such measures could slow some aspects of AI innovation, they also represent a concerted effort by Beijing to shape the norms of global AI regulation.
Public Feedback and Next Steps
The CAC has opened the draft rules for public comment through late January 2026, inviting input from industry stakeholders, civil society and citizens. How these regulations will be finalized — and how enforcement mechanisms will operate — remains a focus of intense debate within China’s tech community and abroad.
As China’s AI ecosystem continues to grow, the balance between innovation, safety and social responsibility will be a key determining factor not only for domestic technology firms, but also for global companies seeking access to one of the world’s largest AI markets.
