The "Super Butler" in Your Phone Has Arrived: A Major Shift in Who Controls Your Data Usage
Hello everyone, I'm your financial journalist. Today, we're not talking about the high scores of a new smartphone or how impressive AI-generated images are, but about a fundamental shift in the way you spend your money and get things done in the future.
If you've been following tech news recently, you might have noticed a trend: major smartphone manufacturers (Huawei, Honor, vivo, OPPO, ZTE) have suddenly started competing in a new way. Instead of competing on who takes the best photos or charges the fastest, they're focusing on making their phones understand human language and directly perform tasks for you.
The core of this article is to reveal the truth behind this "AI phone" competition: manufacturers are trying to bypass traditional apps and take direct control of the services users access. This is a battle for control over data traffic and the ability to manage user interactions.
Let me break down this complex industry news into five easy-to-understand points:
1. From "Editing Photos" to "Completing Tasks": AI Phones Are Moving Beyond Basic Functions
In the past two years, AI phones have mainly acted as assistants. For example, they might edit photos or summarize emails for you. But now, the competition has shifted. The new goal is for phones to not only understand commands but also to understand dates, check the weather, and even interact with other apps to complete tasks on your behalf.
The key change is that AI is no longer just a passive helper; it can take proactive action based on your instructions. It's like going from driving to the supermarket yourself (opening apps, searching, placing orders, paying) to simply saying, "I need groceries," and having a butler do the rest for you.
2. Why Did It Fail Before? Because Apps Belonged to Others
There's a crucial business logic behind this. The first generation of "DouBao phones" became popular but then faded quickly because apps were owned by internet platforms like WeChat, Taobao, and Meituan. Smartphone manufacturers (like Huawei and Xiaomi) provided the hardware and operating systems, but the services came from these platforms.
Last December, the first DouBao phone tried a radical approach: it used high-level system permissions to simulate user interactions directly on the screen. For instance, it could open Meituan and place orders without the user having to do anything. This angered the platforms, as it interfered with their user experience and advertising strategies. As a result, 8 out of 23 major apps banned this functionality, preventing the DouBao phone from accessing them.
The industry consensus now is that manufacturers cannot operate behind the scenes without the platforms' consent; they need to establish formal interfaces for apps to collaborate with AI.
3. What is a "Harness"? Giving AI "Hands and Feet"
The term "Harness" refers to a system-level framework that connects AI with phone functions. Large AI models (LLMs) are the "brains," responsible for understanding user intentions, while the "Harness" is the "systematic execution" layer that turns these intentions into actions. For example, Honor's YOYO assistant can book flights by calling on various system functions and integrating with other devices.
4. Divided Factions: Allies or Rivals?
Manufacturers are not fighting alone; they form different alliances based on their strategies:
- Deep Integration (ZTE + ByteDance): ZTE and ByteDance's DouBao use MCP (Model Context Protocol) and A2A (Agent-to-Agent Communication) for seamless integration.
- Self-Development + Cooperation (Honor + Alibaba): Honor collaborates with Alibaba's AI models to control system operations.
- Full Self-Development (Huawei): Huawei develops everything from chips to systems and AI models.
- Multi-Modal Integration (OPPO): OPPO's XiaoBu assistant uses Tongyi Qianwen for more natural interactions.
The battle is about control: manufacturers want to control user actions, while platforms want to maintain control over transactions. If AI completes transactions directly, platforms lose revenue. If manufacturers control the data flow, they need to share profits.
5. The Future Is Here: 2026 as the "Year of Intelligent Agents"
Analysts predict that 2026 will see the rise of intelligent agents in phones. IDC predicts AI phones will account for 53% of the Chinese market. This means functionality will be more important than just good cameras.
However, there are challenges:
- Cost and Power Consumption: Processing everything on the cloud is costly, and local processing can be inefficient and power-consuming. Manufacturers are working to balance these issues.
- Regulation and Security: AI operations raise privacy and security concerns. Manufacturers are waiting for regulatory approval.
- Ecosystem Collaboration: The future will involve cooperation between system agents and specialized services.
In summary, this competition is about who controls user interactions. For consumers, it means phones will become more personalized assistants. For the industry, it's a reshuffle of control, profit distribution, and technical standards.
Tip for Readers: When considering a new phone, look at the brand's system-level AI capabilities. Does its assistant work across apps, understand complex commands, and integrate with popular services? These factors will significantly impact your usage experience in the next three years.