Chinese smartphone company Honor introduced new AI features on Oct. 15 to help customers compare deals on different e-commerce platforms like JD.com and Alibaba’s Taobao. The AI functions will be available on Honor’s new Magic8 smartphone and other devices in China, targeting the upcoming Singles Day shopping season.

The AI upgrade aims to boost Honor’s market share in China, with plans to release more AI features in sports, health, and companionship. Honor anticipates that users will increasingly access functions through an AI portal rather than opening smartphone apps directly, enhancing personalized services.

Honor’s AI features are activated through the “Yoyo” chatbot within the MagicOS operating system. Despite expanding overseas revenue, Honor seeks to compete with Huawei, Vivo, Oppo, Xiaomi, and Apple in China’s smartphone market, aiming to regain the top spot.

Honor signed a partnership with Alibaba to develop AI features like shopping tools, photo guidance, and voice-activated taxi hailing. The company emphasizes privacy, stating that personal data stays on the device and isn’t sent to the cloud. Honor’s AI model learns from user interactions and aims to simplify tasks like finding the best deals.

To enhance user experience, Honor’s AI can perform diverse tasks like finding the cheapest option based on individual memberships and personalized coupons. The company’s self-developed AI model has expanded rapidly to over 3,000 tasks and integrates with various Chinese apps through the Model Context Protocol developed by Anthropic.

Honor integrates AI functions from companies like Kuaishou’s Kling AI for video generation, despite incurring costs. The company prioritizes creating value for consumers before commercialization, investing $10 billion in AI over five years. Honor aims to become an AI device company and a platform connecting businesses with consumers.

Read more at CNBC: Honor launches AI phone tools that help users get online shopping discounts