Chinese AI firm launches 'world's first agentic smartphone'

Chinese artificial intelligence startup StepFun has unveiled what it describes as the world's first large language model-native AI device brand as it seeks to move beyond AI chatbots and into consumer hardware.

The company introduced the StepX brand alongside the Step Agentic-native Operating System, a new personal AI agent called Amoo, and the STEPX Neo, which it described as the world's first agentic smartphone built natively around a large language model.

The launch by StepFun is part of an intensifying race among Chinese AI companies to build vertically integrated AI ecosystems spanning foundation models, operating systems and hardware, as the industry shifts from standalone AI assistants toward so-called "agentic AI" capable of autonomously performing complex tasks.

Unlike today's smartphones, which largely rely on users opening individual applications, StepFun said its system is designed to allow AI agents to understand user intent, coordinate tasks across services and proactively complete workflows.

The company said the new platform establishes an integrated technology stack linking its foundation models, agent operating system and AI-native devices, allowing AI to move from software into the physical world.

"The future of AI is not another application, but an entirely new computing paradigm," a spokesperson for the company said during the launch event.

"The terminal should evolve from a passive tool into an intelligent partner that can perceive, understand and collaborate with users."