Apple Intelligence has received regulatory approval to launch in the Chinese market. According to information provided by Reuters, while the Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC) approved Apple’s productive artificial intelligence services, the integration of Alibaba’s Qwen large language model into the Apple ecosystem was effective in this process. This paved the way for Apple Intelligence features to be offered to users in China on iOS, iPadOS, macOS and visionOS.
It has been known for a long time that Apple has been seeking cooperation with a local technology company to make artificial intelligence features available in China. The allegations that came to the fore last year indicated that the company’s negotiations with Alibaba had reached the final stage. While this collaboration becomes official with the latest regulatory approval, the Qwen model will serve as the core technology in adapting the Apple Intelligence experience that Apple offers globally to China.
Apple Intelligence features will work with the Qwen model
In a statement to CNBC, Alibaba confirmed that the Qwen model will become part of the Apple Intelligence experience. The company stated that the integration will include artificial intelligence capabilities such as text and visual understanding and content production. Despite this, no date was shared as to when exactly the features will be available to users in China.
Apple Intelligence was first introduced in 2024 and came to Apple devices with various functions such as writing tools, notification summaries, visual creation, natural language processing and Siri’s advanced artificial intelligence capabilities. However, these features have not been available in China until now due to regulatory requirements. In order for foreign technology companies operating in China to provide productive artificial intelligence services, they must use models that comply with local legislation and obtain official approval.
It was previously brought to the agenda that Apple did not only meet with Alibaba in this process. It was claimed in the news that the company first considered establishing a partnership with Baidu, but there were various technical problems in adapting the models to the expectations in the Chinese market. In addition, artificial intelligence models developed by DeepSeek and ByteDance were also among the options considered by Apple. However, these negotiations did not reach the desired result, which delayed the arrival of Apple Intelligence to China.
This development coincides with a commercially remarkable period for Apple. The company increased its revenue in the Greater China region by 28 percent year-on-year to $20.5 billion in the second quarter of fiscal 2025. In addition, with the effect of the discounts applied to iPhone models during the last shopping festival, Apple rose to second place again in the Chinese smartphone market. The official launch of artificial intelligence features is considered one of the factors that can support the company’s competitiveness in the country.
On the other hand, Alibaba also felt the financial impact of the agreement in a short time. The company’s U.S.-listed shares rose nearly 4 percent in premarket trading after the news broke. During the day, the increase rate exceeded 6 percent. This table shows that investors evaluate the cooperation with Apple positively in terms of Alibaba’s position in the field of artificial intelligence.
Apple’s approach to the Chinese market also reveals that the global Apple Intelligence experience will not be offered with the same infrastructure in every country. Due to local regulations and technology partnerships, it seems possible for the company to benefit from different artificial intelligence models in different markets. The integration with Alibaba’s Qwen model stands out as one of the first and most striking examples of this approach.
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