by LI Jiaqi

ByteDance is moving to partner with several smartphone makers, including Vivo, Lenovo and Transsion, to develop so-called AI phones, people familiar with the matter told Jiemian News.

The plan would see AIGC plug-ins preinstalled on devices, giving ByteDance a direct user entry point and helping it shift from a relatively passive position at the AI execution layer.

Several Vivo employees confirmed to Jiemian News that the company has agreed to cooperate with ByteDance and that talks are under way on specific terms. Jiemian News sought comment from ByteDance, Vivo, Lenovo and Transsion, but none responded by the time of publication.

Vivo had previously explored deeper cooperation with Tencent on large language models, but the talks failed to produce an agreement, partly because the two sides could not find a viable commercialization path, according to people familiar with the matter. One sticking point was the cost of tokens. Slower-than-expected progress in Vivo's own AI initiatives has also increased its openness to partnerships with companies such as ByteDance.

ByteDance also held discussions with Oppo over a similar proposal, but the idea was rejected, the people said.

According to one source, ByteDance's strategy is not aimed at near-term business growth, but at creating new traffic monetization channels. Under the proposed model, handset makers would share in revenues from traffic distribution and subscription services.

Cooperation models under discussion include waiving customized development fees or token-based revenue sharing, while offering phone makers a share of secondary traffic revenues. All proposals remain at an early stage, the source said.

ByteDance is initially targeting mid-range phones priced above 2,000 yuan, launching alongside new models before expanding coverage to other devices through over-the-air system updates. Once the installed base reaches about 150 million to 200 million units, ByteDance believes it would be in a stronger position to compete with other internet companies.

The company's strongest distribution channels are currently overseas, making international markets the most likely focus for early AI phone rollouts, the source added.

Another person familiar with the project said ByteDance places significant internal emphasis on the AI phone initiative, with more than 500 employees each in its systems and data labeling teams.

ByteDance has previously said its Doubao assistant is in talks with multiple smartphone makers over assistant partnerships, while stressing that it has no plans to develop its own handset. The only officially disclosed partner so far is ZTE.

Meizu Technology later publicly invited ByteDance’s Doubao team to cooperate, saying it "looks forward to deeper collaboration to create a more useful AI phone".