HarmonyOS 7 expands Huawei's AI push in China

Huawei has introduced HarmonyOS 7, positioning the platform as a new step in its AI strategy in China after Apple said Siri AI will not launch there. The company unveiled the update at HDC 2026 in Dongguan on June 15, 2026. A central change is the HarmonyOS Intelligent Agent Framework 2.0, which is designed to let users complete tasks through naturallanguage commands instead of moving through multiple apps. Huawei says its assistant Xiaoyi has been rebuilt into a systemlevel agent with access to more than 2,100 builtin functions and integration with over 2,000 thirdparty AI agents. Huawei also said HarmonyOS 7 uses its openPangu 2.0 foundation model and delivers performance gains over HarmonyOS 6.1. The company’s own figures claim task execution above 90%, though that number has not been independently verified. Huawei said the stable consumer release is expected this autumn, while the software is currently in developer beta. The launch comes as HarmonyOS continues to gain share in China. According to Counterpoint Research, the platform overtook iOS in the Chinese smartphone market in 2025, and Huawei said HarmonyOS held 19% of the market in Q1 2026 versus 16% for Apple’s iOS. The article notes that HarmonyOS remains centered on China’s app ecosystem and that Huawei’s international ambitions are still limited.