Breaking: Doubao and Qwen Kill Their Agent Features on the Same Day—Your AI Assistant Could Vanish Overnight

📖 Glossary

AI Box (also known as Agent Computer / Agent PC), is a dedicated local hardware device that runs AI Agents. Pre-installed with an AI agent management system, plug-and-play, running 24/7. Users can remotely command AI to work via Discord, Slack, Telegram, WhatsApp, and more.

Abstract: On July 4, ByteDance's Doubao and Alibaba's Qwen both announced the shutdown of their agent features, effective July 15, with all user data to be deleted by October 15. Two tech giants, the same decision, same day. What does this mean for everyone who has spent months building their AI agents on these platforms? And more importantly—where should your AI agent actually live so it never disappears?

In less than 24 hours, two of China's largest AI platforms made the exact same move: kill their agent features.

On July 4, Doubao published its "Agent Feature Shutdown Notice," and Qwen simultaneously pushed a "Qwen Agent Service Shutdown Reminder." Both platforms will terminate agent services on July 15—just 11 days from now. The data deletion deadline is even more brutal: back up your agent data by October 15, or it's gone forever.

This isn't just a "product adjustment." It's a wake-up call for the entire AI industry.

Why Are AI Agents Suddenly Being Killed?

The answer boils down to one thing: they don't make money.

The original logic was simple: offer agents for free, build user habits, then monetize later. But the reality is that agents consume far more compute than regular chat. A single agent maintaining context, invoking tools, and executing task chains requires 5-10x the inference cost of a normal Q&A session.

Doubao now processes over 120 trillion tokens daily with 200+ million DAU, yet its daily revenue is under 1 million RMB—mainly from e-commerce commissions. Meanwhile, its daily compute costs run into tens of millions. The agent feature, as the biggest compute hog, was simply unsustainable in a "free traffic" model.

Qwen's situation mirrors this. Alibaba Cloud's AI infrastructure investment runs into tens of billions, and when the long-tail cost of agents accumulated past a tipping point, pulling the plug became the most rational financial decision.

Your AI Doesn't Belong to You

Doubao's official suggestion: "Take screenshots or export text to back up your agent data."

Let that sink in. Is the value of a well-trained AI agent really something you can capture with screenshots?

A truly useful agent is something you "raise" over time—through thousands of interactions, it learns your work style, writing habits, decision preferences. This isn't static data you can copy-paste. It's a dynamic, memory-rich digital companion you've spent hundreds of hours training.

And with one platform notice, it all goes to zero.

This is the real horror: your AI doesn't belong to you. You're just renting it, and the landlord can evict you anytime.

This is exactly why forward-thinking users are moving to independent hardware like Kaihe AIBOX—where your agent runs on your own device, in your own home, accountable to no one but you.

Private Agent Deployment: The Only Way Out

After this event, every AI user needs to ask: where does my agent actually run?

On someone else's server → they pull the plug, you lose everything → you're forever a tenant.

On your own hardware → you make the rules → you're the owner.

This is not alarmism. Doubao and Qwen aren't the first to kill agents, and they won't be the last. Under cost pressure, any "free" commercial promise is fragile. Today it's agents, tomorrow it could be chat history, and the day after—the entire service goes paid-only (Doubao just launched a Professional tier at 5,088 RMB/year).

The solution is clear: bring your AI home.

A truly independent agent runs on your own hardware. Its memory lives on your drive. Its decisions draw from your private knowledge base. It runs 24/7, immune to any product manager's decisions.

The Kaihe AIBOX-A1 was built precisely for this: a dedicated AI agent computer that you plug in and forget about. The architecture is simple—agents run locally, cloud models handle heavy reasoning (edge-cloud synergy)—so your agent's identity, memory, and configuration all stay on your own hardware. Even if a model provider changes policy, your agent survives. Swap the model, keep the soul.

Pre-installed with OpenClaw and Hermes agent frameworks, with WeChat remote control support. Leave the device at home and command your AI via voice messages on WeChat from anywhere. No PC required, ultra-low power consumption.

Platforms will keep killing features. But your agent doesn't have to die with them.

Breaking: Doubao and Qwen Kill Their Agent Features on the Same Day—Your AI Assistant Could Vanish Overnight

Breaking: Doubao and Qwen Kill Their Agent Features on the Same Day—Your AI Assistant Could Vanish Overnight

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