TikTok Owner ByteDance Unveils AI Phone Assistant — China's Challenge To The iPhone

The competition in the world of mobile technology is heating up. ByteDance, the Beijing-based tech giant behind the global sensation TikTok, has just revealed its latest effort to disrupt the market: an advanced, AI-powered phone assistant.

This significant move is widely seen as China's boldest attempt yet to challenge Apple's dominance and its iconic iPhone, setting the stage for a new battleground in consumer electronics.

AI War for the Handset

The future of handsets is now a contested space, with the company behind TikTok, ByteDance, challenging Apple's influence. This technological competition was initiated by ByteDance, which embedded its Doubao artificial intelligence system into a ZTE-branded mobile phone.

On Monday, the Beijing-based company unveiled a technical preview of the Doubao Mobile Assistant. In an official post shared via its WeChat channel that same day, the company explained that the assistant is the result of 'an operating-system-level collaboration between ByteDance's Doubao [AI model] and mobile phone manufacturers.'

This deep integration, they noted, provides users with both easier interaction and enhanced capabilities. The features displayed in a video presentation were impressive: the assistant can narrate a story based on an image, remove people from a photograph, scan various retail platforms to find the lowest price for a given item, and finalise transactions once the user provides authorisation.

Furthermore, the system can manage scheduling tasks such as reserving restaurant tables and arranging transportation, and it can even update a playlist with the latest podcast releases. Notably, each of these services can be launched with simple vocal instructions.

The Prototype Device

To demonstrate this innovation, ByteDance collaborated with the major Chinese telecommunications corporation, ZTE, to launch a special 'engineering prototype'—the Nubia M153.

This limited-edition handset, priced at 3,499 yuan (approximately £373.98), features a large 6.78-inch display, a powerful Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 chip, and a rear camera unit with three 50-megapixel lenses.

To access the assistant instantly, users need to press the special AI key that is positioned on the edge of the phone.

Acknowledged Limitations

Both firms have openly admitted that the phone's operating system, especially its photographic capabilities, 'cannot guarantee the functional completeness of a mature mobile product' and might not match the performance of typical premium devices.

They plan to counter this by guaranteeing a regular schedule of fixes and rolling out new software versions every two weeks until the close of March 2026.

In the demonstration video, Gan Lin of the Doubao Mobile Assistant team provided context for the development. He noted that 'In 2022, the release of ChatGPT inspired the entire industry to reimagine the potential of mobile voice assistants, and we were part of this collective journey. Thus, we launched the Doubao Mobile Assistant project last year.'

He firmly stated the company's focus: it has no intention of building its own handsets. Rather, ByteDance is currently 'in discussions with several mobile phone manufacturers about collaborations.'

This initiative marks the latest attempt by ByteDance to establish a strong presence in the mobile device sector.

Past Hardware Ventures

Back in 2019, the company acquired a stake in the ailing mobile phone company Smartisan, leading to the subsequent release of the Nut Pro 3 and the Nut R2. Nevertheless, these devices failed to achieve strong sales, leading to the mobile division being later integrated into ByteDance's education unit to focus on developing electronic tools for learners.

Since then, the firm has stopped trying to develop complete mobile phones. Instead, it has focused on investigating the market for compact hardware products by leveraging new purchases and strategic alliances.

A recent illustration of this strategy occurred last year: ByteDance released the Ola Friend, an open-ear wearable, just one month after finalising its takeover of the headphone company Oladance.

When this device is paired with the Nubia M153, the Ola Friend accessory enables users to initiate spoken interactions with the new Doubao Mobile Assistant and perform various phone operations.

Given that the short-video sector has reached saturation and its massive TikTok business is under threat of a potential divestiture in the US, ByteDance has adopted an 'all-in' approach to developing generative artificial intelligence.

Potential Apple Intelligence Partners

ByteDance is also considered a potential collaborator for Apple's plan to introduce its Apple Intelligence feature across mainland China, according to a WCCFtech report.

Furthermore, reports indicate that other major local technology companies, such as Alibaba Group Holding (which owns the Post), Baidu, and Tencent Holdings, have engaged in discussions with Apple regarding these AI capabilities. However, no official developments have been announced so far.

In February, Liang Rubo, the chairman and chief executive officer, announced the firm's specific AI objectives for the current year. These goals, he stated, involve investigating 'the upper limit of intelligence" and "new-user interface interactions.'