THE super app WeChat and two mobile banking apps are among several applications to have block automated operations by the new artificial intelligence (AI) agent developed by ByteDance for a ZTE smartphone. Several users on the Nubia M153 phone said that they were forcibly logged out after the Doubao mobile assistant tried to run WeChat and were met with the message “there is an abnormality in the login environment.” The banking apps of Agricultural Bank of China and China Construction Bank display similar pop-up warnings, prompting users to disable the tool before proceeding. Launched on Dec. 1 at a price of 3,499 yuan (US$495), the Nubia M153 is currently only available to developers and industry professionals. In response, WeChat said that there were no specific actions taken on its part, suggesting that users might have triggered existing security and risk control measures. The standout feature of the Doubao mobile assistant is its ability to switch seamlessly between multiple apps, manage bookings, place online orders, download batch files, track logistics across different platforms, and reply to messages, all through user voice commands. The phone has granted the Doubao mobile assistant the high-level INJECT_EVENTS permission, which is typically reserved for system components developed by the phone manufacturer, industry technicians pointed out. Having this means that the tool can read screen content and simulate user clicks, among other capabilities. With INJECT_EVENTS being a system-level permission, the Doubao agent requires users to grant authorization before it can use the permission to operate the phone, Doubao’s team said on Weibo. The tool will not act on users’ behalf for sensitive authorizations, such as payments or identity verification, and will not store screen content in the cloud for training, it added. (SD-Agencies) | 