(Yicai) Jan. 3 -- ByteDance has rebutted rumors that the Chinese owner of TikTok will co-develop artificial intelligence phones with local handset manufacturer Nubia.

ByteDance has no plans for an AI phone tie-up with Nubia, the Beijing-based company told Yicai yesterday.

According to recent rumors circulating on social media, ByteDance and Nubia inked a deal to develop a detailed plan for an AI phone business this quarter, with prototype production and testing to start next quarter and a launch event to be held around the end of the third quarter.

Established in 2012, Nubia has phone businesses in China, North America, South America, Northern Europe, Russia, Southeast Asia, India, and other countries.

In a different rumor circulating last month, ByteDance was said to be cooperating with tech giant ZTE to establish a new phone brand using its Doubao AI bot.

Doubao has deep ties with many phone brands, but it has never discussed the possibility of developing a new brand with ZTE, nor was there such a chip collaboration, a relevant person in charge of the AI conversational bot said regarding the rumors.

ByteDance also told Yicai at the time that the ZTE rumors were false. Instead, the company is exploring a large-scale model software solution based on phones for handset manufacturers' information and use, is noted, adding that it has no plans to make and sell phones independently.

Editor: Martin Kadiev