ByteDance's Doubao Assistant Rolls Out Screen Automation, Blocked by Alibaba and Tencent
ByteDance's Doubao phone assistant announced the end of the 30-day public notice period for its Screen Automation Execution Protocol (SAEP) and is progressively granting third-party apps screen automation permissions. However, major tech giants including the Alibaba and Tencent ecosystems have explicitly opted out. This development highlights intensifying turf wars and ecosystem boundaries between AI assistant providers and major tech conglomerates regarding mobile OS control. As AI agents evolve to interact directly with user interfaces, platform-level friction over automated access to third-party services is becoming a critical industry bottleneck. Under the SAEP framework, developers retain the right to opt out at any time, after which the Doubao assistant will immediately cease automated operations on those specific applications. Applications that have declared a refusal will not be manipulated by the AI agents.
## BACKGROUND
Screen automation allows AI assistants to independently navigate mobile apps, click buttons, and execute multi-step workflows on behalf of users by interpreting UI elements. Protocols like SAEP are introduced to establish security and governance frameworks for these powerful UI-level interactions.