On December 19, 2025, reports surfaced indicating that ByteDance is forging ahead with collaborations on AI smartphones alongside hardware giants like vivo, Lenovo, and Transsion. The plan is to pre-install AIGC (Artificial Intelligence Generated Content) plugins on these smartphones, aiming to broaden user access and turn around the passive status of AI at the implementation level.

Several employees from vivo confirmed that vivo and ByteDance have finalized their partnership and are now in the process of ironing out specific details.

An insider from Lenovo also divulged that Lenovo Group has been engaged in close collaboration with ByteDance's ventures, including Doubao and Volcano Engine. Furthermore, relevant business units are actively communicating about potential cooperation in the smart terminal arena.

ByteDance clarified that its strategy is not primarily geared towards business expansion. Instead, it focuses on pioneering new avenues for traffic monetization. This approach allows smartphone manufacturers to partake in revenue sharing from traffic distribution and membership subscriptions.

At present, detailed cooperation plans are still under deliberation. Priority is anticipated to be given to mid-range models priced over 2,000 yuan. The initial deployment will involve pre-installing the plugins on new devices, with subsequent expansion to existing models through OTA (Over-the-Air) upgrades.

ByteDance has set an internal cooperation goal of reaching 150 - 200 million devices. Additionally, leveraging overseas channel advantages has emerged as a pivotal aspect of their deployment strategy.