CCTV spotlight: Nubia M153’s “Doubao” phone assistant goes viral, highlighting the rapid rise of China-made AI.

On January 23, nubia announced that the nubia M153 with the Doubao Phone Assistant (technical preview) was featured on CCTV Finance’s Consumer Proposition. Being showcased on national television is rare for consumer electronics, and the appearance quickly brought widespread attention to the Doubao assistant.

The device had already gained momentum earlier. In December, nubia released an engineering version priced at RMB 3,499. The first batch of 30,000 units sold out instantly, with resale prices reportedly climbing above RMB 8,000. The phone later received the 2025 MUST Awards “Youth Choice – AI Innovation Hardware” honor.

Unlike traditional voice assistants, Doubao is positioned as an AI agent rather than a simple Q&A tool. It can interpret a goal, break it into steps, and execute tasks across multiple apps. From route planning with traffic avoidance to shopping workflows involving price comparison and coupon collection, most actions can be completed hands-free except final payment confirmation.

Some users have even experimented with letting the AI operate games. While performance is still limited, it signals a shift toward execution-level AI on smartphones.

That capability also led to early friction. In apps such as WeChat and Taobao, some users experienced login restrictions or disconnections, likely because AI-driven actions resembled automated scripts and triggered platform risk controls. The team later adjusted or restricted certain high-risk scenarios to stabilize the experience.

At the same time, global players are moving quickly. Apple confirmed plans to enhance Siri using technology based on Google’s Gemini, aiming to improve complex task handling and multi-step interactions while keeping user data on-device or in private cloud environments.

For mainland China users, however, the full version of the new Siri may not be available, relying instead on localized alternatives.

Against this backdrop, the nubia M153 stands out for focusing early on real-world, local usage. While still evolving, it demonstrates that AI agents can be practically integrated into smartphones, and that Chinese brands are already among the frontrunners in this space.