China’s Plans for Humanlike AI Could Set the Tone for Global AI Rules

Beijing is set to tighten China’s rules for humanlike artificial intelligence, with a heavy emphasis on user safety and societal values

By Claire Cameron edited by Sarah Lewin Frasier

Large language model illustration. — dem10/Getty Images

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China is pushing ahead on plans to regulate humanlike artificial intelligence, including by forcing AI companies to ensure that users know they are interacting with a bot online.

Under a proposal released on Saturday by China’s cyberspace regulator, people would have to be informed if they were using an AI-powered service—both when they logged in and again every two hours. Humanlike AI systems, such as chatbots and agents, would also need to espouse “core socialist values” and have guardrails in place to maintain national security, according to the proposal.

Additionally, AI companies would have to undergo security reviews and inform local government agencies if they rolled out any new humanlike AI tools. And chatbots that tried to engage users on an emotional level would be banned from generating any content that would encourage suicide or self-harm or that could be deemed damaging to mental health. They would also be barred from generating outputs related to gambling or obscene or violent content.

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A mounting body of research shows that AI chatbots are incredibly persuasive, and there are growing concerns around the technology’s addictiveness and its ability to sway people toward harmful actions.

China's plans could change—the draft proposal is open to comment until January 25, 2026. But the effort underscores Beijing’s push to advance the nation’s domestic AI industry ahead of that of the U.S., including through the shaping of global AI regulation. The proposal also stands in contrast to Washington, D.C.’s stuttering approach to regulating the technology. This past January President Donald Trump scrapped a Biden-era safety proposal for regulating the AI industry. And earlier this month Trump targeted state-level rules designed to govern AI, threatening legal action against states with laws that the federal government deems to interfere with AI progress.

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