Chinese smartphone maker Oppo doubles down on AI, says in regular talks with Google and Microsoft

cnbc.com:

BEIJING — Chinese smartphone company Oppo is doubling down on artificial intelligence as it holds weekly talks about AI with senior management at Google and Microsoft in the run-up to the launch of its flagship phone overseas.

The collaborations are part of the race to find the next artificial intelligence application. The rise of generative AI — tech that can produce human-like responses when prompted — has companies from Apple toHoneywell rushing to tap its capabilities.

«Google will also come to China to ask us, what needs and pain points do you have with your products? Let's solve them together,» Billy Zhang, president of Oppo's overseas market, sales and services, told reporters last week at the company's office in the southern Chinese city of Shenzhen. That's according to a CNBC translation of his Mandarin-language remarks.

«We know consumers' needs, and we will use AI to satisfy [them],» Zhang said. The company is expanding further in Europe, but does not have immediate plans for the U.S., he said.

Oppo, which owns the OnePlus brand too, said itderives around 60% of its revenue from Southeast Asia, Europe and other overseas markets. The company ranked fourth globally in terms of smartphone shipments in the third quarter, making up 9% of all units shipped, according to Canalys. Samsung and Apple were tied for the first spot, followed by Xiaomi.

While the U.S. leads in terms of AI capabilities, experts suggest Chinese companies will have an edge when it comes to consumer applications of the tech. That's despite U.S. restrictions on exports of high-end chips to China.

Oppo has said its forthcoming flagship smartphone will be equipped with AI writing and recording summary tools fromGoogle's Gemini, and content