Detail

The recent launch of ByteDance’s Doubao Mobile Assistant on the nubia M153 highlights the tension between AI-driven phone assistants and app platform security. Doubao lets users speak a goal, and the phone executes multi-step tasks across apps. However, users quickly experienced warnings and logouts from WeChat, as well as prompts from Taobao and Alipay, due to the assistant mimicking human interactions in ways that triggered platform security controls. ByteDance has since restricted Doubao’s functionality in finance, rewards, and gaming. Yeoh Chai Yeow, a Senior Specialist (Cybersecurity) at SP’s School of Computing, explains that because Doubao simulates screen taps and reads interfaces like a human, it leaves detectable patterns that platforms interpret as bot activity, prompting safeguards. This incident underscores the challenges of integrating phone-level AI assistants with app ecosystems that still control trust and monetisation.

[Asia Tech Lens]