Luxury smartphone brand Vertu on Thursday unveiled a foldable phone powered by an AI agent that connects with business software and coordinates workflows. The company targets executives who manage business and communications activities on the go.
Called Alphafold, the foldable smartphone starts at $6,880 for the calfskin version. High-end models feature bespoke finishes including alligator leather, 18K gold, and natural diamond accents, as well as custom-made details. This continues Vertu’s long-term strategy of positioning its phones as luxury status symbols aimed at affluent consumers. The company told TechCrunch that its top-of-the-line model is currently priced at $46,800, and other customization options are available.
The launch marks Vertu’s latest attempt to reinvent itself for the AI era after struggling to stay relevant in the modern smartphone market. The Hong Kong-headquartered company, once known for luxury handsets and concierge services favored by wealthy consumers before the rise of the iPhone, has changed ownership several times over the years as mainstream smartphone makers came to dominate the industry. Still, Vertu is betting Alphafold can help reinvent the genre for the AI era by combining luxury hardware with business-focused AI power.
Vertu’s Alphafold comes with Hermes Agent, built on top of Nous Research’s open source Hermes project. The agent can connect to business systems such as ERP and CRM, and direct tasks such as authorization, scheduling, sales tracking, travel planning, and performance reporting using natural language information. However, the company said its Phone-to-ERP and VPS deployments will be customized for each customer based on their existing business plans, and pricing varies accordingly.
Alphafold, Vertu said, can run applications on multiple AI models including OpenAI’s GPT, Anthropic’s Claude, Google’s Gemini, and selected open source models, while also integrating more than 80 applications and dozens of native phone functions for cross-platform workflows.
AI features available in smartphones from major manufacturers remain mostly focused on consumer tools such as photo editing and voice assistance, said Vertu CEO Molly Ma. This leaves room for more advanced AI-agent workflows tied to business systems. He also pointed to previous AI-agent smartphone trials in China that gained popularity before facing challenges with data privacy and cloud-based data collection.
Alphafold, Ma said, aims to address these concerns with a privacy-focused design with an A5 security chip. This silicon is designed to separate authentication keys, biometric information, and sensitive business information from the main operating system, the company said. It added that commercially sensitive data can be processed locally on the device, while information sent to external AI models is reprocessed or tokenized before leaving the phone.
While Vertu emphasized the device’s privacy and security architecture, including on-device processing and data recovery features, the company said the system has not undergone third-party security testing or independent certification. However, Vertu told TechCrunch that independent audits and certifications remain on the security roadmap “as a clear commitment for the next phase,” adding that it will “communicate progress and results publicly” once the product matures further.
The Alphafold is powered by Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 8 Gen 4 processor and features an 8.05-inch foldable display next to a 6.53-inch external screen, a 6,500mAh battery, and satellite connectivity capabilities. The device also includes a triple rear camera setup with 50-megapixel primary and ultrawide cameras, and a 5-megapixel telephoto lens. Vertu said the phone’s hinge uses steel, titanium, and carbon-fiber materials and is limited to 650,000 folds.
Alphafold isn’t Vertu’s first attempt to combine AI with foldable devices. The company last year launched the Agent Q, a clamshell-style foldable smartphone that focuses on AI-driven automation and productivity features.
However, Ma told TechCrunch that Alphafold represents a significant step forward for Agent Q, arguing that AI-agent technology has matured rapidly over the past year, with advances in memory, automation and application integration.
Foldable smartphones remain a niche segment around the world despite years of investment by major manufacturers including Samsung and Huawei. About 20 million foldable smartphones will be shipped worldwide by 2025, accounting for less than 2% of total smartphone shipments, according to data IDC shared with TechCrunch. The research firm said foldables sold for around $1,300 last year – about three times the price of non-foldable smartphones.
Kiranjeet Kaur, associate research director of mobile research at IDC, said that foldables could ultimately benefit AI-agent workflows because their larger displays are better suited for multitasking and productivity-oriented experiences. However, he added that the adoption of business AI in smartphones still lags behind computers, and that many business smartphone decisions continue to be driven by ecosystem integration and device management support rather than AI capabilities.
The first batch of 115 units of Vertu’s Alphafold begins shipping this week to major markets including the US.
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