ByteDance’s AI smartphone created a stir in China… ByteDance’s prototype became the center of discussion

New Delhi:Artificial Intelligence is no longer limited to just answering questions, but has also started operating your smartphone itself. TikTok’s parent company ByteDance in China recently introduced a smartphone prototype that surprised everyone by showing the ability to operate the phone exactly like humans. The device, called Nubia M153, was equipped with ByteDance’s own Doubao AI agent, which could view the screen, open apps, tap buttons, make calls, type messages and even book tickets, all without any user intervention. It seemed like a glimpse of the future, but fears about privacy immediately emerged.

As the video shared by Shenzhen entrepreneur Taylor Ogan went viral, concerns about the impact and security risks of this fully agentic AI quickly spread. According to reports, ByteDance then limited some of the system’s capabilities and blocked AI access to sensitive features until stronger security measures were implemented. This little experiment showed just how much control AI assistants can have over our devices, and what that control can feel like.

ByteDance’s big AI experiment

This prototype phone was developed in partnership with ZTE’s Nubia brand. In this, a customized version of Android and ByteDance’s Doubao, an in-house large language model, was integrated. Doubao, already popular in China, was introduced here as a personal agent that could perform on-device multi-step tasks on its own.

It was not like any ordinary voice assistant. While Siri, Alexa or Google Assistant only perform limited actions based on voice commands, Doubao could see the phone’s interface and operate it like a human. In Ogan’s demo, the AI ​​didn’t need to be told which app to use; it simply understood the goal, like booking a train ticket, and completed the process itself by opening the app, scrolling, typing, and tapping.

This technology was called full-stack because it worked directly at the operating system level, not just on app-level APIs. This was the reason for both its strength and controversy.

Currently, according to media reports, ByteDance plans to provide this AI agent to various Chinese smartphone companies. ZTE is one of the first partners in this. The feature is expected to come to some Nubia handsets, although in a quite limited form.

Privacy

A fully agentic smartphone may sound great, but the question immediately arises is it safe to give control over your entire phone to an AI? When AI can see your screen without permission and directly access your data, the risk of private messages, payment information and personal details increases significantly.

From Apple to OpenAI, all companies are involved in the race to make virtual assistants agents whose job will not only be to answer, but also to take action. But as with the Nubia M153, once the AI ​​starts using your phone like you do, the line between helpful and intrusive becomes extremely thin.