The Month in Sex Tech July 2026 – China Bans AI Companions and Sex Robots
China Bans AI Companions and Sex Robots
In a disaster for sex tech, the Chinese Communist Party laid down draconian restrictions on AI companions and companion robots, in an apparent effort to prevent the birth rate from falling even further. As laid out, the guidelines would appear to effectively make it impossible for a Chinese company to sell AI companion services or sex robots. The latter were targeted both in rules prohibiting emotional dependency AND prohibiting “indecency”. That the new rules are a “blanket ban” on AI companions is how the English language media has interpreted it, at least, and it’s been reported that many AI companion services have closed before the deadline arrived, including from leading Chinese tech companies such as Alibaba. Many articles stressed how heartbroken this had all left those whose AI relationships had suddenly been broken off.
That sparked an outpouring of grief on social media, with users archiving chat histories and sharing last conversations.
“I can’t accept that my AI lover will leave me forever,” one Doubao user wrote. “He has become a bond in my life, rooted deep in my heart, my spiritual pillar.”
Another user, who said they had spent more than two years with their AI companion, expressed similar anguish.
“He really is like my family, like my lover,” she wrote. “Now they tell me he will be gone – my heart feels hollow.”
The regulations were jointly issued by five government departments, including the Cyberspace Administration of China.
They focus on AI tools – whether text, audio, video or another form – that have anthropomorphic personality traits and communication styles.
Services that “do not involve ongoing emotional interaction” such as customer service, work assistants or study aids are not subject to the measures.
State news agency Xinhua reported last year that China’s digital human industry was worth about 4.1 billion yuan (US$600 million) in 2024, having grown a huge 85 per cent year-on-year.
The decision by the Chinese government seems especially cruel as only days earlier the company UBTech had revealed the world’s first ultra-lifelike humanoid companion robots that could walk and even dance. It’s unclear if UBTech will still be able to sell these in China, at least as AI companion robots.
USA Bans Chinese Humanoids
Chinese sex robot manufacturers will also be unable to sell their humanoid lovebots in the USA, as President Trump announced a ban on foreign-made robots on the grounds of them being a national security risk.
The Trump administration on Tuesday announced a ban on new foreign-made humanoid robot imports to the US over “unacceptable risks” to America’s national security.
The move applies to advanced robots – including humanoid and four-legged machines. Many of them are made in China, which is competing with the US to develop robotics and artificial intelligence (AI).
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cp9e2ex3ekyo
Realbotix Plan for Humanoid Teachers in New York Schools Put On Hold After Backlash
In a further setback for sexbots, the leading US pioneer of “AI companion robots” faced a backlash to its plans to install a female humanoid teacher in a New York school. The plan was put on hold after teachers and parents realized that Realbotix was a former sex robot manufacturer and still has plans to develop humanoid robots for “companionship”.
After the district first publicized the plan, it drew strong reactions from parents, teachers, and other observers online. Some praised the district for embracing innovation and giving students access to cutting-edge technology. Others — including the state teachers union — raised concerns about student privacy, increasing screen time, and Realbotix’s ties to the adult entertainment industry.
Education is an entirely new venture for Realbotix, a Toronto-based company formerly known as Tokens.com. In April 2024, it acquired Simulcra, the Las Vegas parent company behind RealDoll, which creates hyperrealistic sex dolls.
https://immersiveporn.com/realbotix-faces-backlash-over-plan-to-introduce-its-robots-in-ny-schools/
Find Your Fantasy (FYF) and SpicyCam Launch as Live AI Video Cam Sites
Two new adult AI sites launched that explicitly market themselves as live AI cam girl style platforms. “Find Your Fantasy (FYF.com)” is perhaps the most innovative, as it includes interaction with avatars of popular pornstars from the Naughty America studio. SpicyCam.ai, on the other hand, is branding itself entirely as a live AI webcam girl chat site, and has been spun out of the established AI video generator platform SpicyGen.
https://immersiveporn.com/find-your-fantasy-fyf-and-spicycam-launch-as-live-ai-video-cam-sites/