Smartphone manufacturer Nubia will officially introduce a brand-new flagship smartphone featuring a deeply integrated, system-level AI agent at the 2026 World Artificial Intelligence Conference (WAIC) in Shanghai. Ni Fei, Senior Vice President of ZTE and President of its Mobile Devices division, described the upcoming launch as the world’s first mass-produced AI agent smartphone. The conference will run from July 17 to July 20, where Shanghai officials have already highlighted this device as a flagship tech debut.
Evolution of the ByteDance Partnership and Resolving App Bans
Industry speculation strongly suggests that this upcoming device is the highly anticipated commercial successor to the Nubia M153. Nubia initially developed the first-generation M153 as a limited technology preview in collaboration with ByteDance, utilizing their Doubao AI assistant. While the initial batch of 30,000 units sold out on its first day in late 2025, the phone faced immediate hurdles when major applications like WeChat and Alipay blocked it due to security alerts triggered by automated screen-clicking software permissions.
To resolve these platform blocking issues, the new flagship model reportedly shifts away from simple screen simulation. Instead, it utilizes advanced Model Context Protocol (MCP) and App-to-App (A2A) interaction. Therefore, the device can communicate smoothly across application ecosystems without triggering security systems. Furthermore, rumors suggest the phone will offer top-tier hardware, including the powerful Snapdragon 8 Elite mobile platform.
True Autopilot Functionality via System-Level Architecture
Unlike standard AI smartphones that limit their tools to individual apps for basic photo editing or text generation, Nubia’s upcoming flagship structures the AI agent directly into the operating system core. Consequently, this architecture allows the assistant to execute complex tasks completely autonomously using natural language commands.
-
Autonomous Multi-Step Workflows: A user can verbally request the device to find and book the cheapest flight to Beijing. The system will independently open the necessary apps, compare prices, fill in passenger details, and complete the payment process without requiring manual screen interaction.
-
Visual Interface Understanding: The system utilizes a Graphical User Interface (GUI) agent alongside an on-device large language model. This advanced setup allows the AI to visually interpret icons, text, and buttons on the screen rather than relying solely on restricted application programming interfaces (APIs).
-
CoClaw Intelligent Scheduling: ZTE’s proprietary CoClaw technology manages intelligent scheduling across different application ecosystems. As a result, the phone can seamlessly bridge different software environments to execute advanced automated tasks securely.
Nubia has not officially confirmed the phone’s market name, exact pricing, or retail release date. However, tech enthusiasts expect comprehensive details once the production-ready smartphone makes its public debut at WAIC 2026.
