ByteDance Debuts AI Voice Assistant on New ZTE Smartphone

ByteDance announced on Monday that it is introducing an artificial intelligence–driven voice control feature that will first appear on a ZTE Corp smartphone, with plans to extend the technology to devices from additional manufacturers. The voice assistant, built on ByteDance’s Doubao large language model, enables users to perform tasks such as searching for content and booking tickets through spoken commands. The new tool will enter a market already offering similar AI capabilities from major Chinese smartphone brands including Huawei and Xiaomi. Apple has yet to release its Apple Intelligence suite in China, though Alibaba has indicated it will collaborate with Apple to develop AI functions for iPhones sold domestically.

The assistant will debut on ZTE’s Nubia M153, a prototype handset priced at 3,499 yuan ($495) and available for pre-order in limited quantities. ZTE shares rose 10% on Monday, the highest level since late October, supported both by anticipation surrounding the phone and news that the company secured several contracts to supply 5G equipment in Vietnam. ByteDance emphasized that it does not intend to manufacture its own smartphones and is currently in discussions with multiple handset makers to integrate the AI tool.

ByteDance, the parent company of TikTok and its Chinese counterpart Douyin, has become a dominant force in China’s consumer AI sector through the success of its Doubao chatbot. Doubao recorded 159 million monthly active users in October, significantly outpacing Tencent’s Yuanbao at 73 million and DeepSeek at 72 million, according to data from Aicpb.com.