Nubia to Launch New AI-Powered Smartphone at World Artificial Intelligence Conference 2026

Nubia M153 was unveiled by the Chinese smartphone maker during the Mobile World Congress (MWC) earlier this year, months after its limited launch in China. The tech firm calls it an “AI Native” handset, which ships with its Doubao AI assistant. Now, a company executive has confirmed that it will unveil the “world's first AI-powered smartphone” (translated from Chinese) during the World Artificial Intelligence Conference 2026, which is set to take place later this month. Rumours suggest that the handset will succeed the Nubia M153, which is powered by a custom Snapdragon 8 series chipset. The Doubao AI assistant is capable of using agentic AI technology to automatically execute cross-application tasks.

Nubia to Showcase Its New AI-Powered Handset This Month

In a post on Weibo, Nubia's President Ni Fei announced that the Chinese smartphone maker will launch the “world's first mass-produced AI-powered smartphone” (translated from Chinese) during the World Artificial Intelligence Conference 2026. The event is scheduled to begin on July 17 and will conclude on July 20, and will take place in Shanghai. However, the Nubia President did not confirm the name of the upcoming AI-powered handset.

Meanwhile, tipster Whylab claims in a post on the Chinese microblogging platform that the upcoming Nubia handset could be the successor to the Nubia M153. The leaker added that the smartphone maker has been able to resolve multiple issues that were found on the Nubia M153. The company has reportedly reached agreements with various online platforms to enable “deep system-level AI integration”.

For reference, the Nubia M153 was first launched in China in December 2025. However, the handset was supplied in limited numbers. On March 2, the tech giant showcased the Nubia M153 globally at the MWC 2026, marketing it as an “AI-native” device.

The Nubia M153 is powered by an octa core Snapdragon 8 Elite chipset from Qualcomm, along with 16GB of RAM and 512GB of onboard storage. The handset also ships with the Doubao AI assistant, which is capable of autonomously taking action across apps on behalf of the user. The Nubia M153 also features the company's digital “emotional companion”, called iMoochi, which is claimed to offer “lifelike interactions”.