Sometimes, as rabbits waste their time on petty feuds and habitual sloth, the tortoise can win the sprint. This is exactly what appears to have happened with StepX and its just-teased Neo AI phone, as Apple and OpenAI remain locked in a high-stakes battle over alleged technology theft related to their upcoming consumer-facing AI devices.
StepX Neo clinches the first-mover advantage on the AI phone as Apple and OpenAI remain mired in a technology theft feud
As we detailed recently, Apple filed a damning lawsuit against OpenAI last week, accusing it of stealing its proprietary technology, circuit designs, and component architecture for a slew of upcoming consumer-geared AI devices.
Do note that OpenAI has been working on a number of AI devices, including AI-powered earbuds that bear the internal codename "Sweetpea" but might retail under the "Dime" brand name, and a consumer device that is shaped like a pen and bears the internal codename "Gumdrop." More recently, OpenAI appears to have pivoted to an AI phone, where users would rely on real-time AI agent inference using a combination of on-device and cloud-based models, rather than individual apps, to perform a variety of productivity tasks.
Meanwhile, Apple is also working to incorporate AI into a number of its upcoming products, including audio-only and AR-based smart glasses, camera-equipped AirPods Pro (though the latest tidbit suggests the product has been placed in a deep-freeze), and a wearable AI pin or pendant that would come equipped with multiple cameras, a speaker, microphones, and wireless charging. Apple's pin/pendant would presumably act as a conduit for channeling commands to Siri, while relying heavily on its iPhone counterpart for most processing despite sporting an onboard chip, albeit comparable in power to the one that is housed within the AirPods or the Apple Watch.
This brings us to the core of today's topic. As Apple and OpenAI remain mired in a convoluted legal battle, StepX has just teased the Neo, an agentic phone that is supposedly built around an AI model, while leveraging the native Step AOS operating system and the built-in Amoo AI agent, which is designed for system-wide, cross-app task completion.
Key specs include:
- Snapdragon 8 Gen 4 and Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 SoC, depending on the region.
- 12GB and 16GB RAM configurations.
- A 6.78-inch main display panel with either a 1.5K or 2K resolution.
- An interactive rear secondary screen used for instant notifications and direct AI agent interactions.
- The high-end triple-camera variant comes equipped with three 50MP sensors.
- A 5,500mAh battery with support for a whopping 100W of wired charging.
- Launch date and pricing remains under wraps for now.
Of course, given the fact that the StepX Neo is a Chinese offering, it'll likely face some regulatory hurdles in launching in the US and the EU, offering Apple and OpenAI some reprieve.
About the author: Writing is my one incontrovertible passion. Over the past six years, he has authored over 2,200 distinct articles on financial and tech-related topics, spanning nearly 1 million words. And he has been a member of Wcctech mobile team since 2025. As an alumnus of the University of Toronto, Rotman Commerce Program, I bring nuance, in-depth knowledge, and a unique perspective to every topic that I cover. When I'm not writing, I'm traveling the world, exploring hidden confectionaries and restaurants as an aspiring food connoisseur.
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