Nubia has confirmed it will introduce what it calls the world’s first system-level AI agent smartphone later this month, marking a shift from AI-powered phones that answer questions to AI agents that perform multi-step tasks autonomously.
The device will debut at the 2026 World Artificial Intelligence Conference (WAIC) in Shanghai, running from July 17 to July 20. Industry speculation links the phone to the commercial version of Nubia’s second-generation Doubao smartphone, developed in partnership with ByteDance. Its predecessor, the Nubia M153 — a technology preview that sold 30,000 units on its first day — was already an early indicator that consumer appetite for agentic AI on mobile devices was substantial.
How it works
Unlike current AI smartphones, which primarily answer questions or generate content through chatbot interfaces, Nubia says its AI agent is deeply integrated into the operating system itself. The system understands natural language instructions — “book the cheapest flight to Beijing” — and then performs the task autonomously: opening airline apps, comparing fares, filling forms, and completing payment without manual interaction.
The architecture combines several technical components:
- A GUI agent that visually understands and operates the phone’s interface, rather than relying on API integrations alone.
- An on-device large language model that powers real-time reasoning and screen interaction without sending every query to the cloud.
- CoClaw intelligent scheduling, ZTE’s in-house system, which enables seamless collaboration across apps and ecosystems for complex automation.
AI-powered to AI agent
The distinction Nubia is drawing matters. Every major smartphone maker has added generative AI features in the past two years — on-device translation, photo editing, summarization. These are useful, but they are largely reactive: the user asks, the phone answers. The Nubia approach is proactive. The AI agent is designed to understand context, maintain state across tasks, and execute multi-app workflows independently from start to finish.
Shanghai officials had previously signaled that the Doubao commercial launch would be a major product announcement at WAIC 2026. If the device delivers on its claimed capabilities, it could force competitors to answer a question the industry has been circling for two years: if your phone has AI features but no genuine AI agent, is it really an AI phone?
Sources: Nubia to launch world’s first AI agent smartphone (Gizmochina, July 8, 2026)