ByteDance pushes frequent updates to Doubao AI as privacy concerns persist

ByteDance’s Doubao AI phone – a limited-run handset built with ZTE’s Nubia brand – remained in hot demand and continued to receive frequent software updates, even as the device drew scrutiny over privacy and data security after its debut in early December.\nZTE’s online store briefly reopened applications on Tuesday for an “F code” – a so-called “friend code” – that granted priority access to buy the 3,499-yuan (US$497) handset.\nMarketed as a “technology preview edition”, the device carried a disclaimer that it was intended for industry users seeking hands-on experience, with no guarantee of the functional completeness expected of a mature product.\nAn application form also said only a limited number of units would be made available, with no plan to expand production, and that priority would be given to applicants who had previously failed to secure a device.\nByteDance had earlier said inventory was “completely unable to meet demand”.\nThe Doubao AI phone team, meanwhile, has continued to push updates to the beta version, which was designed to understand natural-language commands and carry out tasks on a user’s behalf.\nA publicly shared update log showed the handset was now receiving software releases about every two weeks. This week’s changes included user interface tweaks and upgrades to the Doubao assistant’s “intent recognition” – the system’s ability to infer what users wanted done.\nThe team has also been publishing tutorials while encouraging users to submit feedback and cases, offering JD.com shopping vouchers as incentives.\n\nSeparately, a recruitment page linked to the Doubao phone listed 44 open roles across Beijing, Shanghai and Shenzhen, spanning positions including AI product management, imaging, sensors, displays, human factors engineering research and front- and back-end development.\nSince the phone’s launch on December 1, its agent-like capabilities have attracted wide attention – and alarm – over data security and privacy. Because the assistant is designed to observe and operate the handset interface on a user’s behalf, it requires deep system-level access.\nSeveral popular apps, including messaging services WeChat and QQ, payment app Alipay, social platform RedNote, and e-commerce and delivery services such as Pinduoduo, Taobao and Meituan, were reported by users to have shown login anomalies. Alibaba Group Holding, owner of the Post, is an affiliate of Ant Group, the operator of Alipay.\nThose apps did not allow direct operation by the AI agent, sharply limiting what the phone could do in day-to-day use.\nOn December 5, the Doubao phone team said it would restrict certain uses as part of a “standardisation adjustment”, including using AI agents to farm in-app incentives, play games, or access banking and other financial services.\nByteDance also released a white paper outlining efforts to strengthen privacy and data security.\nNubia president Ni Fei wrote in a social media post on December 9 that “the mobile phone industry has gone too long without delivering truly disruptive innovation to users … the rise of AI phones is unstoppable”.\nDouyin vice-president Li Liang replied that the exploration by Doubao and ZTE was “a beginning”, adding that whether the attempt succeeded, “AI is undoubtedly the future”.\n