{"slug": "chinese-tech-firms-pitch-ai-agents-as-the-future-of-smartphones", "title": "Chinese Tech Firms Pitch AI Agents as the Future of Smartphones", "summary": "Chinese tech firms including StepFun, Nubia, and Honor showcased AI agent-powered smartphones at the World Artificial Intelligence Conference in Shanghai, pitching them as the future of mobile devices. StepFun demonstrated its StepX Neo with built-in AI agent Amoo that can coordinate tasks like finding EV chargers and ordering coffee, while Nubia unveiled the NaviX Ultra, described as the world's first mass-produced AI agent phone, and Honor introduced the RobotPhone with a mechanical gimbal camera. The companies have not disclosed release dates or prices for the new devices.", "body_md": "[NEWS](/features/26166/news?source=normal_article)\n\n### Chinese Tech Firms Pitch AI Agents as the Future of Smartphones\n\n[Li Xin](/users/1010887/li-xin?source=normal_article)\n\nSHANGHAI — From finding EV chargers and ordering food to booking trips and making payments, Chinese smartphone makers and AI companies are racing to bring “agentic” AI phones to market.\n\nAt this year’s World Artificial Intelligence Conference ([WAIC](https://www.sixthtone.com/news/1018788)) in Shanghai, domestic companies including StepFun, Nubia, and Honor showcased phones designed to understand user intent, break requests into steps, and coordinate tasks across services.\n\nAt the booth of Tencent-backed AI startup StepFun, a staffer asked the company’s new StepX Neo smartphone to find the nearest EV charging station and have his usual coffee delivered to his home when the charging session was nearly done.\n\nWithin seconds, the phone generated two service cards: one for the charging station, the other for the coffee order. The coffee card displayed an expected delivery time after the order was placed, leaving final confirmation with the user. It was unclear whether the phone completed a charging reservation.\n\nStepFun said the phone’s built-in AI agent, Amoo, treated the two requests as connected. Drawing on stored preferences, it selected a charging station based on the driver’s vehicle model, preferred charging speed, usual charging time, and charger availability. It also used the user’s favorite coffee brand, usual order, and home address to arrange the order around the charging session.\n\nStepFun, valued at $10 billion, also demonstrated how its AI agent could assist with workplace tasks and travel planning. To support those functions, the company said Step AOS, an Android-compatible operating system built for AI agents, has been integrated with major services including Alipay for payments, Trip.com for travel bookings, Didi Chuxing for ride-hailing, and Meituan for food delivery and other on-demand services.\n\nThe company has not disclosed the release date or price of the StepX Neo.\n\nOther tech firms at the conference staked out similar territory, though the products on display showed how loosely the new category is still being defined.\n\nSmartphone brand Nubia showcased the NaviX Ultra, which it described as the world’s first mass-produced AI agent phone. The device’s agent architecture is built around Doubao, China’s most popular AI assistant, developed by TikTok parent ByteDance, enabling users to manage schedules, search for information, and control multiple apps through voice or text commands.\n\nThe latest model was not available for hands-on testing at the event, and Nubia has not released official information on its launch date or price. But a previous prototype unveiled last December could handle natural-language requests, including planning trips and booking tickets and hotels.\n\nHandset maker Honor introduced its RobotPhone, which features a built-in mechanical gimbal that allows its camera to move independently, track users’ movements, and respond to music through physical gestures.\n\nThe company said the device, based on its agentic mobile operating system, represents a shift from smartphones that respond mainly to touch commands toward devices that can interact with users more naturally. The company has not announced a launch date, delivery timeline, or price for the phone.\n\nAt a conference panel discussion, Huang Fei, Honor’s chief AI scientist, said agentic operating systems must be able to understand what users want, break complex goals into smaller tasks, and call on the right tools to complete them.\n\n“The essence of an agentic OS isn’t adding an AI assistant to an operating system,” Huang said. “It’s rebuilding the operating system around users’ intentions and tasks.”\n\nEven if an AI agent can plan and reason, completing real-world tasks requires access to third-party apps, payment systems, travel platforms, delivery services, and other parts of the mobile ecosystem.\n\n“An agentic operating system cannot be built by any single company alone,” Xu Zhuhong, vice president of Alibaba Group, said at the conference.\n\n“It requires an open ecosystem and shared standards rather than a closed product,” Xu added. “Companies across the industry chain, from foundation models to platforms and applications, must work together.”\n\n*(Header image: A man interacts with the Honor’s RobotPhone at the 2026 World AI Conference in Shanghai, July 20, 2026. VCG)*", "url": "https://wpnews.pro/news/chinese-tech-firms-pitch-ai-agents-as-the-future-of-smartphones", "canonical_source": "https://www.sixthtone.com/news/1018796/Chinese Tech Firms Pitch AI Agents as the Future of Smartphones", "published_at": "2026-07-20 13:47:23.501036+00:00", "updated_at": "2026-07-20 13:47:25.408892+00:00", "lang": "en", "topics": ["artificial-intelligence", "ai-agents", "ai-products", "ai-startups", "ai-tools"], "entities": ["StepFun", "Nubia", "Honor", "Tencent", "ByteDance", "Alipay", "Trip.com", "Meituan"], "alternates": {"html": "https://wpnews.pro/news/chinese-tech-firms-pitch-ai-agents-as-the-future-of-smartphones", "markdown": "https://wpnews.pro/news/chinese-tech-firms-pitch-ai-agents-as-the-future-of-smartphones.md", "text": "https://wpnews.pro/news/chinese-tech-firms-pitch-ai-agents-as-the-future-of-smartphones.txt", "jsonld": "https://wpnews.pro/news/chinese-tech-firms-pitch-ai-agents-as-the-future-of-smartphones.jsonld"}}