More than 150 Chinese apps have forbidden ByteDance’s mobile AI assistant Doubao from operating them on smartphone manufacturer Nubia Technology’s newly released agentic AI smartphone.

In a list published Oct. 14 on Doubao’s official account on messaging app WeChat, its developers identified dozens of apps that prohibit its graphical user interface (GUI) automation. The technology interprets a user’s spoken command, reads what is displayed on their smartphone’s screen, and navigates across and operates apps to complete the task. 

Doubao had released its Smart Assistant Execution Protocol on Sept. 14, giving developers one month to decide whether to let the assistant operate their apps.

Apps owned by ByteDance’s rival technology companies Tencent and Alibaba make up nearly 60% of the list, including WeChat from the former and digital payment system Alipay from the latter, according to domestic media outlet Cailian Press. Others include those from e-commerce giant Meituan, ride-hailing platform Didi, lifestyle app Xiaohongshu, e-commerce platform Pinduoduo, China’s three state-run telecommunications carriers, several banks, and rival AI apps DeepSeek and Kimi. The listed apps can still be installed and used manually.

Absent from the list are e-commerce giant JD.com and most apps from internet service company Baidu, with the exception of Baidu Maps. A Baidu employee told domestic media outlet Caijing magazine that the phone’s shipment volume remains too small to pose a meaningful concern for the company.

Nubia bills the NaviX Ultra as “the world’s first AI-powered smartphone,” bringing agentic AI to consumers. The company, headquartered in China’s southern tech hub of Shenzhen, said that within seconds of the smartphone’s Sept. 16 launch, it generated 100 million yuan ($15 million) in sales. The phone’s price starts at 5,999 yuan.

Nubia released a prototype of the current AI phone, the M153, for 3,499 yuan in December last year. Though it quickly sold out, users soon reported that whenever the assistant attempted to operate WeChat, they were automatically logged out of the app. Doubao’s developers later disabled the assistant’s ability to operate the super app.

On the same day Doubao published the list of restricted apps, Nubia announced a software update — including improved localized data search, call-recording summaries, and call screening functions — and offered users six months of free Doubao membership, worth roughly 400 yuan.

As of Monday, none of the included app developers have commented publicly on the news.

Liu Xu, a researcher at Tsinghua University’s Institute for National Strategic Studies, told Cailian Press that China has no regulations relating to how AI agents operate third-party applications. 

Given the lack of oversight, Liu said, it is understandable that developers would deny such access over data security and user privacy concerns. He added that their resistance may also reflect a desire to protect their own AI ecosystems, particularly given Doubao’s already vast user base.

In its post, Doubao’s developers stated that other apps can opt out of its GUI technology at any time, and its list of cooperating companies would be updated every Wednesday.

Editor: Marianne Gunnarsson.

(Header image: VCG)