tech
Apple Intelligence approved for launch in China with Alibaba’s Qwen AI
Apple Intelligence is headed to China after regulators approved Apple’s AI services through a partnership with Alibaba. The long-rumored deal will bring Alibaba’s Qwen AI models to Apple’s operating systems, marking a major expansion of the company’s generative AI platform into one of its most important markets.
TL;DR
- Apple Intelligence has received approval from China's Cyberspace Administration of China.
- The approval allows for the integration of Alibaba's Qwen AI model into Apple's operating systems (iOS, iPadOS, macOS, visionOS).
- This partnership is crucial for Apple's AI expansion in China, a key market where Apple sales increased 28% in the second quarter.
- Alibaba confirmed that Qwen would be integrated into Apple Intelligence experiences, offering text and image understanding and generation capabilities.
- Prior to this deal, Apple explored partnerships with Baidu, DeepSeek, and ByteDance but faced challenges.