What happened to Doubao's AI companion feature?
ByteDance disabled Doubao's custom agent functions on July 15, 2026, citing 'product function adjustments,' and redirected agent creation to a separate app, Maoxiang. Existing users get read-only access to their saved configurations and conversation histories until October 15, 2026, after which the data becomes unrecoverable.
Answered in
China Shut Down Doubao and Qwen's AI 'Companions' OvernightA Beijing rule effective July 15, 2026 forced ByteDance's Doubao and Alibaba's Qwen to shut down their AI companion agent features overnight.
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