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ByteDance Rolls Out AI Voice Assistant for Chinese Smartphones

FILE PHOTO: Bytedance logo is seen in this illustration taken February 8, 2025. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: Bytedance logo is seen in this illustration taken February 8, 2025. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo
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ByteDance Rolls Out AI Voice Assistant for Chinese Smartphones

FILE PHOTO: Bytedance logo is seen in this illustration taken February 8, 2025. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: Bytedance logo is seen in this illustration taken February 8, 2025. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo

Chinese tech giant ByteDance said on Monday it is launching an artificial intelligence voice control tool that will debut on a smartphone made by ZTE Corp, before becoming available on phones from other manufacturers in due course.

The AI assistant, powered by ByteDance's popular Doubao large language model, allows users to voice activate tasks such as finding content and booking tickets.

The tool will compete with similar AI features introduced by Chinese smartphone makers such as Huawei and Xiaomi, Reuters reported. Apple has yet to make its Apple Intelligence available in China, though Alibaba has said it would partner with Apple to develop AI features for iPhones in the country.

ByteDance's AI voice tool will first appear on ZTE's Nubia M153 handset, currently a prototype priced at 3,499 yuan ($495). The device is available for pre-order in limited quantities.

Shares in ZTE surged 10% on Monday, their highest level since October 29, helped by reports of the phone as well as news that it had won a string of contracts to supply 5G equipment in Vietnam.

ByteDance said in a statement it has no plans to develop its own smartphones and is in talks with multiple phone makers to roll out the AI voice assistant.

ByteDance, which owns TikTok and the short video app's Chinese version Douyin, has emerged as the leading player in consumer AI apps in China due to its chatbot Doubao.

Doubao had 159 million monthly active users in October, far more than Tencent's Yuanbao at 73 million and DeepSeek at 72 million, according to AI product tracking platform Aicpb.com.

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Technology

EU Experts to Start Work on Social Media Ban for Children Thursday

The TikTok Inc. building is seen in Culver City, Calif., Friday, March 17, 2023. (AP)
The TikTok Inc. building is seen in Culver City, Calif., Friday, March 17, 2023. (AP)
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EU Experts to Start Work on Social Media Ban for Children Thursday

The TikTok Inc. building is seen in Culver City, Calif., Friday, March 17, 2023. (AP)
The TikTok Inc. building is seen in Culver City, Calif., Friday, March 17, 2023. (AP)

An EU expert group is to begin work this week on whether to ban social media for children with the aim of coming up with recommendations by the summer, Brussels said Tuesday.

European Union chief Ursula von der Leyen will attend the consultative panel's inaugural meeting on Thursday, having launched the initiative in September, the European Commission said.

Brussels is considering setting a minimum age to access social media after Australia in December required TikTok, YouTube, Snapchat and other top sites to remove accounts held by under-16s, or face heavy fines.

The EU panel will hold a series of meetings to then "advise the President and the commission as a whole on potential additional measures to put in place to protect our kids online," said commission spokesman Thomas Regnier.

The commission did not say who was on the panel.

Brussels is keeping a close eye on how successful the Australian ban proves, with legal challenges already filed against it.

France, along with Denmark, Greece and Spain, has been pushing for similar action at EU level.

Von der Leyen has advocated going further with a minimum age limit, but first wants to hear from experts on what approach the 27-nation bloc should take.

EU efforts to rein in the influence of big tech firms -- most of which are based in the United States -- have angered the administration of President Donald Trump.

Technology

Tech Sovereignty and AI Networks Set to Dominate Mobile Meet

A picture taken on March 2, 2026 in Barcelona shows Qualcomm's stand adverstising 6G technology during the inauguration of the Mobile World Congress (MWC), the world's biggest mobile technology showcase and fair. (Photo by Josep LAGO / AFP)
A picture taken on March 2, 2026 in Barcelona shows Qualcomm's stand adverstising 6G technology during the inauguration of the Mobile World Congress (MWC), the world's biggest mobile technology showcase and fair. (Photo by Josep LAGO / AFP)
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Tech Sovereignty and AI Networks Set to Dominate Mobile Meet

A picture taken on March 2, 2026 in Barcelona shows Qualcomm's stand adverstising 6G technology during the inauguration of the Mobile World Congress (MWC), the world's biggest mobile technology showcase and fair. (Photo by Josep LAGO / AFP)
A picture taken on March 2, 2026 in Barcelona shows Qualcomm's stand adverstising 6G technology during the inauguration of the Mobile World Congress (MWC), the world's biggest mobile technology showcase and fair. (Photo by Josep LAGO / AFP)

Tens of thousands flocked to the Mobile World Congress (MWC) in Barcelona Monday, with this year's edition of the telecoms trade fair marked by efforts to integrate AI into networks.

Celebrating its 20th year in the Catalan capital, the annual event is expected to draw around 109,000 professionals and visitors as well as major telecoms operators and equipment manufacturers from around the world, AFP reported.

Usually the day for major announcements, Monday will see appearances from the heads of Indian telecoms giant Bharti, America's AT&T and France's Orange.

And attendees are expected to pack an address by SpaceX chief Gwynne Shotwell, as press reports swirl of an imminent stock market listing for the Elon Musk-owned satellite internet firm.

The broader satellite communications sector will once again be "one of the defining themes of MWC this year", analysts from British research firm CCS wrote.

So-called "direct-to-device" connectivity -- in which phones or other connected gadgets communicate directly via satellites overhead -- "is the hottest topic right now, not just in the satellite industry, but in the mobile operator community", they added.

The telecoms industry can look back on a year of strong growth for global smartphone sales in 2025, adding 1.9 percent to reach 1.26 billion devices.

But firms will also have to ride the waves of multiple upcoming transformations in the sector.

"Sovereign AI will be a big discussion item" at this year's MWC, according to analysts from the GSMA telecoms industry association that hosts the fair, as countries look to insulate their tech infrastructure from geopolitical tensions.

Beyond political considerations, "the mobile industry is facing one of the most unprecedented challenges in its history," said Francisco Jeronimo, an analyst for market intelligence firm IDC.

Manufacturers are confronted with a surge in the price of working memory (RAM) for devices, pumped up by massive demand from tech giants building up their AI computing capacity.

Korean heavyweight Samsung showed off its latest phone models on Wednesday, with the expected prices of the three new gadgets already higher due to the cost of memory.

Over the short term, the price surge will likely trigger a "market contraction" in phones this year, IDC predicted.

But manufacturers will still be keen to show off the innovations crammed into their latest models.

Chinese producer Honor is displaying what it calls a "robot phone" designed to function as a portable AI companion.

The device has a camera on a small robot arm that acts as its head, which Honor said in a Sunday demonstration would be able to nod along with a conversation or look around in response to the user's questions.

The phone is set for launch in the second half of this year.

Chinese competitors Xiaomi and Huawei, sales champions in the connected devices sector, this weekend announced new ranges of watches, headphones and tablets.

Displayed on flashy corporate stands, such new gadgets will line the avenues of the multiple cavernous halls at MWC for visitors to peruse until Thursday.

Technology

Vietnam AI Law Takes Effect, First in Southeast Asia

People wearing raincoats ride motorbikes through the rain past a fast-food restaurant in Hanoi on February 26, 2026. (Photo by Nhac NGUYEN / AFP)
People wearing raincoats ride motorbikes through the rain past a fast-food restaurant in Hanoi on February 26, 2026. (Photo by Nhac NGUYEN / AFP)
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Vietnam AI Law Takes Effect, First in Southeast Asia

People wearing raincoats ride motorbikes through the rain past a fast-food restaurant in Hanoi on February 26, 2026. (Photo by Nhac NGUYEN / AFP)
People wearing raincoats ride motorbikes through the rain past a fast-food restaurant in Hanoi on February 26, 2026. (Photo by Nhac NGUYEN / AFP)

A law regulating artificial intelligence went into effect in Vietnam on Sunday, making it the first country in Southeast Asia with a comprehensive framework on the booming technology.

The legislation passed by the National Assembly in December establishes a risk-based regulatory model requiring human oversight and control of AI.

It is in force as of March 1, according to the text.