ByteDance’s Doubao said it is testing a "Doubao Professional Edition" for advanced productivity tasks including software development, data analysis, professional design, process automation, financial analysis and scientific research, while saying core functions will remain free. The company said launch timing and service details will be announced through official channels and rejected online claims that it would weaken free basic tools to drive memberships. Earlier reported plans said Doubao could introduce paid subscriptions in late June, with pricing of up to 500 yuan per month or 5,088 yuan per year, and integrate with ByteDance’s Douyin short-video platform for e-commerce in the third quarter. Doubao had about 336 million monthly active users in April.