China's Cyberspace Administration issued draft regulations on April 3 that would regulate digital humans across the country. The rules require clear labelling when users interact with AI-generated personas, ban services designed to mislead children, and prohibit digital human products that could fuel addiction in minors.

The draft also establishes oversight through the State Internet Information Office at the national level, with local departments handling regional compliance. It encourages industry self-regulation alongside government enforcement, with penalties for violations.

This is not theoretical governance. China has already banned AI boyfriends and girlfriends for minors. It has mandatory real-name verification for AI services. It has usage time limits for children on digital platforms. Now it is extending those protections to digital humans, the AI-powered avatars that are exploding across Chinese social media, customer service, and entertainment.

Meanwhile in America, Congress has introduced 47 AI bills and passed zero. There is no federal framework for AI and children. There is no labelling requirement for digital humans. There is no restriction on addictive AI services targeting minors. Individual states are writing their own patchwork of rules while the federal government argues about whether to even define what AI is.

The contrast is stark and uncomfortable. China, which gets criticized (often rightly) for authoritarian tech governance, is the only major economy with a comprehensive framework for protecting children from AI manipulation. The country that lectures the world about freedom and innovation has no plan at all.

You do not have to like how China governs the internet to acknowledge that this specific problem needs governing. Kids are spending hours talking to AI companions that are designed to be engaging, not safe. Character.ai already had multiple lawsuits over minors who formed unhealthy attachments to AI chatbots. Replika had to strip romantic features after parents raised alarms. These are not hypothetical risks.

China is regulating digital humans because it sees them as the next vector for addiction and manipulation. America is not regulating them because it cannot get out of its own way. Neither approach is perfect. But only one of them is doing something. And it is not the one that claims to lead the world in AI.