BEIJING — ByteDance, the Chinese technology group best known for TikTok and Douyin, is pressing ahead with a new strategy to embed its artificial-intelligence services directly into smartphones, forging partnerships with manufacturers including Vivo, Lenovo and Transsion, according to people familiar with the discussions.
Several employees at Vivo confirmed to the Chinese business outlet Jiemian News that the company has already reached an agreement with ByteDance and is now negotiating implementation details. Under the proposed model, ByteDance’s generative AI plug-ins would be preinstalled on new devices, giving the company a direct channel to users at the operating-system level rather than relying solely on app downloads.
From Apps to Infrastructure
The push reflects ByteDance’s broader ambition to move artificial intelligence from a passive, on-demand tool to an active system-level agent capable of executing tasks across multiple apps. By embedding AI assistants deeply into smartphones, ByteDance aims to explore new ways of monetizing traffic — through subscriptions, token-based usage and secondary services — while sharing revenues with handset makers.
Industry analysts in China see the move as a turning point. After several years in which phone makers pursued their own AI features independently, the market is now shifting toward a collaborative ecosystem that pairs internet platforms with hardware manufacturers. ByteDance has reportedly offered to waive custom development fees and split revenue from AI usage, allowing manufacturers to earn directly from user traffic — an arrangement still in early-stage discussions.
Midrange Devices, Global Ambitions
According to Jiemian, ByteDance initially plans to focus on midrange smartphones priced above 2,000 yuan (about $285), starting with newly released models and later expanding to existing devices through over-the-air software updates. If the initiative reaches a scale of 150 to 200 million devices, people close to the company say, it could put ByteDance in direct competition with other major internet platforms.
Notably, ByteDance’s strongest growth channels are overseas, and executives expect the AI smartphone push to focus heavily on international markets. That strategy mirrors the company’s global playbook with TikTok and aligns with Transsion’s dominance in regions such as Africa, South Asia and the Middle East.
A Prototype — and Its Limits
On Dec. 1, ByteDance took an early step by partnering with ZTE to unveil the Nubia M153 prototype, an “AI-native” smartphone priced at 3,499 yuan (about $495). The device features a preview version of Doubao, ByteDance’s in-house AI assistant, designed to act as a high-privilege agent capable of ordering food, sending messages on WeChat and comparing prices on shopping platforms like Taobao.
Those capabilities are enabled by deep integration between Doubao’s multimodal large language model and system-level permissions — a technical leap that has drawn both attention and scrutiny.
Some major apps have already restricted Doubao’s access, citing security concerns. In certain cases, WeChat has flagged abnormal environments, while Taobao has triggered human-verification checks. Users and reviewers have also pointed to limitations in execution speed and difficulties handling dynamic content.
A Broader Industry Debate
Domestically, the initiative has sparked debate over security, data governance and platform power. Internationally, it echoes moves by Apple, Google and Samsung to push AI deeper into devices, though ByteDance’s willingness to share revenue more aggressively sets it apart, analysts say.
Whether ByteDance can overcome technical and regulatory hurdles remains an open question. But its push into AI-embedded smartphones underscores a broader shift in the technology industry: the smartphone, once seen as a mature product, is becoming a new battleground for artificial intelligence — and for the companies seeking to control how it is used. (zai)