(Yicai) Dec. 2 -- ZTE, a Chinese telecom equipment and consumer electronics maker, has begun selling its first smartphone to feature an artificial intelligence assistant. Powered by ByteDance’s Doubao large language model, the handset is currently only available to developers and industry professionals.

The Nubia M153 went on sale yesterday priced at CNY3,499 (USD505), Shenzhen-based ZTE announced on the same day.

ByteDance has no plans to develop its own smartphones and is in talks with multiple handset producers on linking arms, the Beijing-based company said yesterday. The TikTok owner had previously denied rumors that it was co-developing a phone with ZTE.

“This partnership with ZTE resembles Huawei’s collaboration with automakers,” a phone manufacturer told Yicai. “Doubao leads the AI development, while ZTE provides hardware engineering capabilities.”

Huawei Technologies launched the Harmony Intelligent Mobility Alliance in 2023, a collaborative platform with partner carmakers through which the tech giant supplies smart vehicle technology.

ByteDance disclosed the scope and targets of its tie-up with ZTE and revealed collaborative scenarios. For example, the Doubao AI Assistant can switch seamlessly between multiple apps, manage bookings, place online orders, download batch files, and track logistics across different platforms all through simple user voice commands.

“The Doubao AI Assistant was developed based on apps and in cooperation with smartphone manufacturers at the level of the operating system,” ByteDance said. “It can be integrated into the models of various brands.”

With the mutual authorization of both parties, the LLM capabilities of the phones can reach “world-class level,” it added.

A ZTE sub-brand focusing on imaging functions, Nubia is a relatively niche product, with a number of data agencies not including its shipment data in statistical reports due to “insufficient volume.”

“Doubao leads the product definition and user experience of the AI assistant, while Nubia takes charge of hardware development and tech research," a person in charge of the brand told Yicai. They declined to provide delivery estimates.

Tie-ups between AI developers and phone manufacturers are not new. As the smart device with the largest user base, most data, and highest frequency of interactions, the smartphone is increasingly becoming a critical platform for AI companies.

Alibaba Group Holdings, for instance, has allied with multiple phone manufacturers, including Oppo Mobile Telecommunications and Honor. 

Editors: Tang Shihua, Martin Kadiev