Doubao Phone Assistant Restricts Operations on Banking and Payment Apps

The assistant's retreat from financial apps shows that app-level resistance, not regulation, is shaping where AI agents can operate. The 155 refusals signal that banks and payment providers see agent access as a security and liability boundary they control. For users, the practical effect is an assistant that works unevenly across everyday tasks. Whether other app categories follow the same refusal pattern, and whether the assistant's self-restriction preempts wider blocking, is the open question.