18 LLM Vendors Created an "Industry Code" — Will It Actually Work This Time?

Ever had this experience — you download an AI assistant app with a promised free trial, only to get a popup three days later saying “premium features require subscription,” while the so-called “basic features” are basically useless?

Or even worse: you think you uninstalled an AI app, but its background processes are still running, silently draining your battery and data.

I’ve encountered this more than once.

Last week, 18 major LLM vendors in China, together with 233 upstream and downstream enterprises, jointly issued the “New Generation Artificial Intelligence Industry Functional Management Initiative.” The core message boils down to three things: don’t force-bundle AI features, be transparent about pricing, and don’t run stealthily in the background.

Let’s start with the positives.

At least this initiative puts the issues on the table. Forced bundling of AI features is indeed one of the most user-hostile practices today — you buy a phone with an AI assistant you can’t turn off; you install office software with AI writing features enabled by default and consuming memory. Do users have a choice? For many products, the answer is “no.”

Opaque pricing is an even bigger problem. Token-based metering, tiered memberships, the same feature priced differently across different entry points — ordinary users have no idea what they’re actually paying for.

Now, here’s the reality check.

Self-regulatory initiatives in China’s internet history have basically followed this pattern: “joint statement → media coverage → three months later, business as usual.”