# StepFun Unveils the First Agentic AI Phone Ahead of Apple and OpenAI > Source: > Published: 2026-07-14 13:18:40+00:00 *A Shanghai startup backed by Tencent is trying to make the phone itself the AI product, not just another screen for a chatbot.* StepFun introduced the StepX Neo in Shanghai on July 13, calling it the world's first mass-market agentic smartphone. The claim is big. The test is simple. If you can tell the phone to book a ride, split a bill, and send the address to a friend without bouncing through five separate apps, StepFun has something worth watching. The company says the device runs Step AOS, an operating system built from Android, Linux, and RTOS components rather than a chatbot pasted onto a familiar phone interface, according to a report from Gizmochina. At the center is Amoo, StepFun's own AI agent, which is meant to act across apps instead of waiting inside one app for prompts. Amoo also handles some core tasks offline. That matters when your signal drops and the phone still has to behave like a phone. StepFun was founded in Shanghai in April 2023 by Jiang Daxin, a former Microsoft vice president. Yicai Global has reported that the company has drawn backing from Tencent and state-linked investment vehicles, while The Wall Street Journal reported in June that StepFun was preparing for a Hong Kong IPO at a possible valuation of up to $12 billion. So this isn't a tiny hardware experiment from nowhere. It is a well-funded Chinese AI company trying to turn model work into a consumer device. ## The phone depends on real app cooperation The StepX Neo only becomes interesting if Amoo can touch the services people already use. Pandaily reported that StepFun has lined up integrations with Ctrip, Alipay, Didi, Meituan, WPS, and CapCut, covering travel booking, payments, ride-hailing, local services, documents, and video editing. That list matters more than the usual launch-stage language. You don't build an agentic phone by giving it a pretty voice. You build it by giving it permission to do tedious things across the apps people already trust. Beebom reported that Amoo can translate restaurant menus through the camera across 32 languages and regional dialects. That's a useful demo because it isn't abstract. You point the camera, read the menu, and move on. The harder task is whether the same agent can handle a messy Didi pickup, a changed hotel booking, or a payment confirmation without getting stuck at the exact moment you need it to work. Here's the thing: Apple, Samsung, Google, and OpenAI have all talked around this future. StepFun is trying to ship into it. Samsung and Google have pushed AI features onto existing smartphones, while Apple has struggled to turn its promised Siri overhaul into a finished daily product. StepFun's bet is different because the agent is being treated as the operating layer, not as a feature sitting on top of the operating system. ## The demo still has to survive daily use South China Morning Post coverage has framed StepFun's launch inside China's wider push for domestic AI self-sufficiency, in software and chips as much as devices. That context matters, but don't overread it. National ambition doesn't book your taxi. Amoo does, or it doesn't. The hardware details are still incomplete. StepFun hasn't said what the StepX Neo will cost or exactly when buyers can get one. The company has confirmed a fuller public showing on July 17 at the World Artificial Intelligence Conference in Shanghai, where it is expected to show configurations and answer some of the questions left open by the July 13 unveiling. The device is manufactured by Huaqin Technology, a major Chinese contract manufacturer, and includes a secondary display on the back for notifications and AI prompts without waking the main screen. That back display is a nice physical clue to the whole idea. StepFun isn't only saying the phone will answer questions. It is saying the phone should keep working in the background and surface what matters, cutting down on how much you tap. If that works, the phone feels less like a grid of apps and more like a device with one capable assistant sitting underneath them. Frankly, the launch still needs proof. Agentic software often looks flawless in a controlled demo and clumsy when it meets passwords, network lag, app permissions, payment failures, and ordinary human indecision. StepFun has the right kind of partners on paper. It has a named agent and a named operating system. A public showcase is coming within days. Now Amoo has to do the boring work reliably. That is the real story for rivals. A three-year-old Shanghai AI startup is trying to put an agent-native phone in front of users before the biggest American names have done the same. Whether the StepX Neo becomes a serious device or a footnote depends on what happens after the Shanghai stage lights go off. **Also read:** [Reflection AI Secures Over $1 Billion in Nvidia Compute From Nebius](https://startupfortune.com/reflection-ai-secures-over-1-billion-in-nvidia-compute-from-nebius/) • [GMI Cloud seeks $635 million loan backed by its Nvidia GPU contracts](https://startupfortune.com/gmi-cloud-seeks-635-million-loan-backed-by-its-nvidia-gpu-contracts/) • [AI Inference Costs Are Quietly Eating SaaS Gross Margins](https://startupfortune.com/ai-inference-costs-are-quietly-eating-saas-gross-margins/)