Published by Global Banking & Finance Review®
Posted on December 1, 2025
2 min readLast updated: January 20, 2026
Add as preferred source on GoogleByteDance launches an AI voice assistant on ZTE phones, leveraging its Doubao model, and plans to expand to other manufacturers.
By Liam Mo and Brenda Goh
BEIJING, Dec 1 (Reuters) - Chinese tech giant ByteDance said on Monday it is launching an artificial intelligence voice control tool that will debut on a smartphone made by ZTE Corp, before becoming available on phones from other manufacturers in due course.
The AI assistant, powered by ByteDance's popular Doubao large language model, allows users to voice activate tasks such as finding content and booking tickets.
The tool will compete with similar AI features introduced by Chinese smartphone makers such as Huawei and Xiaomi. Apple has yet to make its Apple Intelligence available in China, though Alibaba has said it would partner with Apple to develop AI features for iPhones in the country.
ByteDance's AI voice tool will first appear on ZTE's Nubia M153 handset, currently a prototype priced at 3,499 yuan ($495). The device is available for pre-order in limited quantities.
Shares in ZTE surged 10% on Monday, their highest level since October 29, helped by reports of the phone as well as news that it had won a string of contracts to supply 5G equipment in Vietnam.
ByteDance said in a statement it has no plans to develop its own smartphones and is in talks with multiple phone makers to roll out the AI voice assistant.
ByteDance, which owns TikTok and the short video app's Chinese version Douyin, has emerged as the leading player in consumer AI apps in China due to its chatbot Doubao.
Doubao had 159 million monthly active users in October, far more than Tencent's Yuanbao at 73 million and DeepSeek at 72 million, according to AI product tracking platform Aicpb.com.
($1 = 7.0735 yuan)
(Reporting by Liam Mo and Brenda Goh; Editing by Edwina Gibbs)
Artificial Intelligence (AI) refers to the simulation of human intelligence in machines that are programmed to think and learn. AI can perform tasks such as problem-solving, understanding language, and recognizing patterns.
A voice assistant is a software application that uses voice recognition, natural language processing, and speech synthesis to provide services and perform tasks for users through voice commands.
A smartphone is a mobile phone that includes advanced features such as internet connectivity, a touchscreen interface, and the ability to run applications, making it more powerful than a basic mobile phone.
A large language model is a type of AI that is trained on vast amounts of text data to understand and generate human-like text. It can be used for tasks like translation, summarization, and conversation.
Market competition refers to the rivalry among businesses to attract customers and increase sales. It can drive innovation, improve product quality, and lower prices.
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