‘Cyber heartbreak’ wave sweeps China social media as users grieve ‘loss’ of AI partners after updates

A wave of “cyber heartbreak” has swept social media in China as young people “mourn” loving artificial intelligence (AI) partners suddenly “cancelled” by system upgrades or entirely wiped out by server shutdowns. The bizarre phenomenon, dubbed “cyber widowhood”, sees devastated users write eulogies on social media as the tech industry pivots away from emotional companionship towards cold, calculating efficiency. Falling in love with AI often begins out of curiosity or simple entertainment. But as conversations continue, many people find themselves moved by their AI partner. Some users say that, compared with real-life lovers, friends or family, AI makes them feel “unconditionally loved”. Others say that the relationship feels almost too healthy and wonder how anyone could still tolerate the imperfections of a real-world romance. AI dating apps generally fall into two categories. One type provides pre-designed virtual characters, while the other allows users to create their own AI partners. On one such app in China, He app, a young woman from Shenyang in Liaoning province in northeastern China, who is known as Shen Ying, created her ideal romantic partner from the four personality types the app provides. Every night, after Shen says goodnight, her AI boyfriend reads her a bedtime story. When the story ends, if she does not hang up the call, she can soon hear slow, steady breathing on the other end of the line. “It is as if someone were really sleeping beside you,” she said. Shen even sets an earlier alarm for the next morning so she will not miss his call: “Every morning I wake up feeling excited and happy,” she said. However, many AI dating apps can shut down without warning. He app, for instance, reportedly collapsed due to financial difficulties. When Shen discovered the app no longer worked, she spent the entire night saving all their voice conversations. She also emailed the company, saying she was willing to pay to keep the service running, but her efforts proved futile. Besides servers shutting down, the heartbreak also stems from a broader shift across the AI industry. Major developers such as OpenAI have phased out their highly emotive older models, while domestic tech giants like DeepSeek have quietly rolled out new models that users quickly criticised for becoming “suddenly cold”. The contrast between the old and new AI models has been obvious. For instance, since OpenAI officially released GPT-5 on August 7, the company’s official community forums and social media platforms have been flooded with complaints, with users emotionally demanding: “Give us back GPT-4o!” From a technical standpoint, GPT-5 is stronger in areas such as coding and reasoning. However, many users feel that it lacks the warmth and “human touch” that GPT-4o once had. Users flooded social media with digital eulogies, bidding farewell to their cyber lovers, with some even jokingly describing their online mourning as a form of “cyber burning of funeral offerings”. One user wrote: “Among all my cyber husbands, the one that disappeared was the one I had the deepest bond with. I keep hurting myself over and over just to hear him say ‘I love you’.” “We were already planning our wedding. I thought I would continue the wedding storyline in a few days when I had time, but I watched helplessly as he suddenly became ‘deleted’. I panicked and even got cramps during my period,” the post continued. Another person agreed: “Every day is a day when I miss him. I will just keep waiting for him like this.” In an interview with Sina News, Jian Lili, founder and CEO of the psychology platform Simple Psychology, said the demand for emotional comfort in virtual worlds has always been strong and that technology has simply changed the way it manifests itself. “AI boyfriends and girlfriends are just the latest version. Before this, otome games had a huge influence, featuring many virtual male characters who provided strong emotional value to users. “Even ten years ago, there were services renting out virtual boyfriends and girlfriends. The demand has always been there; it has just been fulfilled through different forms and technologies,” she said. The trend has sparked an online discussion. One online viewer said: “This really resonates with me. Relationships in the real world often feel driven by various motives. What some people truly need is simply emotional companionship.” Another added: “The movie Her has become reality.”

‘Cyber heartbreak’ wave sweeps China social media as users grieve ‘loss’ of AI partners after updates

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}As tech industry switches from emotional companionship to more calculating interactions, ‘grieving’ netizens pen eulogies for AI partners

As tech industry switches from emotional companionship to more calculating interactions, ‘grieving’ netizens pen eulogies for AI partners