JAKARTA - Tencent Holdings is preparing a new feature so that the AI assistant on the phone can directly make voice calls, video calls, or send messages through WeChat. This is not just a practical feature. It's about who will be the main door for users on the phone.
Quoted from a report by Yicai Global, Sunday, June 7, WeChat, which has 1.4 billion users, is working with a number of Chinese mobile phone manufacturers. Among them are Huawei, Xiaomi, Honor, Oppo, and Vivo.
The cooperation uses agent-to-agent or A2A capabilities. Simply put, the AI assistant on the phone can "tell" WeChat to run a certain function.
A Tencent customer service representative said some manufacturers have completed the integration.
"A2A WeChat Assistant mainly supports voice and video calls with certain friends and sending WeChat messages to certain friends," he said.
According to him, the feature will be improved gradually, depending on the readiness of each partner. The appearance of the assistant can be different on each mobile phone brand, but the core function remains the same.
Tencent's move comes as internet giants vie for a position as the main gateway on mobile. Previously, people opened apps. Now, technology companies want users to just talk or type commands to AI assistants.
ByteDance, the owner of TikTok, is also moving in the same direction. The company integrates the Doubao AI agent with hardware. In December, ByteDance and ZTE launched the Nubia M153, a prototype of a mobile phone that has been equipped with Doubao.
Alibaba is not standing still. The company is working with device manufacturers to bring AI capabilities. Phones from Oppo, Vivo, and Honor have been equipped with Alibaba's Qwen agent.
According to a report by Yicai Global, an AI business manager at one of the mobile phone manufacturers said that the important thing in the future is not just how smart an AI agent is. What is more decisive is how the entire ecosystem is rebuilt around the AI agent.
"Apps are moving towards agencies," he said. "It's not a one-company decision. It's an industry-wide trend."
This integration puts WeChat in a new competition with mobile AI system makers, as user access begins to shift from apps to AI assistants.
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