China's smartphone company -Honor plans to invest $10 billion into AI and Google

On Sunday, Honor committed to investing $10 billion in artificial intelligence over the next five years and announced a stronger partnership with Google. The Chinese smartphone maker aims to expand its presence in international markets.

Honor unveiled its investment plan at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, aiming to transform from a smartphone company into an "AI device ecosystem company."

Honor is a relatively new player in the smartphone industry, having separated from Huawei in 2020 after U.S. sanctions hit the tech giant. Since then, the company has been expanding beyond China and aiming to compete in the high-end market alongside Apple and Samsung.

Honor has made progress by launching innovative devices like foldable phones, but it remains a relatively small player in the global market. In 2024, its smartphone market share outside China was 2.3%, up from 1.7% in 2023, according to IDC data.

An Honor spokesperson said that the investment will focus on integrating AI into hardware and developing next-generation AI agents, which are like more advanced virtual assistants. Part of the funding will also be used to build a platform for various AI-powered devices.

"This isn’t just for our own devices but also for AI devices from our partners, allowing them to communicate with each other. This will give consumers more choices and a smoother experience," the Honor spokesperson said.

On Sunday, Honor showcased a prototype of its "AI agent." In one example, a user asked the agent to book a restaurant based on specific preferences, like cuisine type and location, and the agent successfully made the reservation. Honor said it is collaborating with Google and chipmaker Qualcomm to develop the AI agent but did not provide a release timeline.