Tech Brief (June 25): ByteDance’s AI Assistant Doubao Launches Paid Version

Published: Jun. 25, 2026 6:55 p.m. GMT+8

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ByteDance’s AI assistant Doubao launches paid version

ByteDance Ltd.’s artificial intelligence assistant Doubao has begun monetizing its features with the rollout of a professional version on Wednesday. Powered by the recently released Doubao 2.1 series of large language models, the paid version targets complex office and productivity tasks. The standard monthly subscription starts at 68 yuan ($10).

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ByteDance's AI assistant Doubao launches paid professional version at 68 yuan/month.
Galbot's S1 humanoid robot completes 3-month trial on CATL production line, claiming world's first autonomous deployment.
Dreame shifts automotive and chip units to foundational research; JD.com partners with MagicLab to target 1 billion yuan in sales.

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ByteDance Ltd.: ByteDance Ltd. launched a paid version of its AI assistant Doubao, powered by the Doubao 2.1 LLM series. The professional version targets office and productivity tasks, with a monthly subscription starting at 68 yuan ($10).

Galbot: Galbot announced its S1 humanoid robot completed a trial of over three months on a CATL mass-production line, handling material transport. It claims this is the world's first routine autonomous deployment of humanoid robots in new-energy smart manufacturing. Galbot also signed a strategic partnership with a CATL subsidiary.

Contemporary Amperex Technology Co. Ltd. (CATL): CATL, a Chinese battery manufacturer, is a leader in new-energy technology. It recently trialed Galbot's S1 humanoid robot on a mass-production line for over three months, marking the first routine autonomous deployment of humanoid robots in smart manufacturing. CATL also signed a strategic partnership with Galbot through its subsidiary NING Service.

NING Service: NING Service is a subsidiary of Contemporary Amperex Technology Co. Ltd. (CATL). It recently signed a strategic partnership with humanoid robot startup Galbot to collaborate on brand promotion, service support and the aftermarket for embodied intelligence applications.

Dreame Technology: Dreame Technology, a smart home appliance maker, has consolidated operations into four main segments, shifting its automotive and chip businesses into its research institute for foundational technology focus. Founder Yu Hao disclosed this strategic contraction at the Summer Davos forum, noting the company now manages his public communications.

JD.com: JD.com, a leading Chinese e-commerce company, signed a strategic cooperation agreement with embodied AI firm MagicLab. They will collaborate on consumer-facing embodied AI products, including education, inspection, and tour-guide applications. The partnership aims to achieve 1 billion yuan in sales for MagicLab on JD.com through supply chain resource exchange.

MagicLab: MagicLab is an embodied AI company that signed a strategic cooperation agreement with JD.com. The two will collaborate on consumer-facing AI and applications for education, inspection, and tour-guide products. They will exchange supply chain resources, aiming for MagicLab to achieve 1 billion yuan in sales on JD.com.

AI generated, for reference only