Apple Intelligence approved for launch in China with Alibaba’s Qwen AI

Apple Intelligence, the iPhone maker’s generative AI offering, is coming to China. On Wednesday, Reuters reported that China’s regulator, the Cyberspace Administration of China, approved Apple’s AI services in the country, on the back of a deal to integrate Alibaba’s Qwen AI model into Apple’s operating systems, including iOS, iPadOS, macOS, and visionOS.

The deal, which was rumored to be in the works last year, marks an important step for Apple’s AI ambitions in a key market. In the second quarter, Apple sales in Greater China increased 28% to $20.5 billion. Apple also recently regained the No. 2 position in China’s smartphone market after a recent shopping festival offered discounts on the iPhone lineup.

Prior to working with Alibaba, Apple was reportedly exploring a deal with Baidu but faced issues adapting its models for Chinese customers. It also explored integrations with DeepSeek and with models from ByteDance, reports claimed. This led to delays in getting Apple Intelligence features, which debuted in 2024, to the Chinese market.

Alibaba confirmed the company’s news to CNBC in a statement, saying that Qwen would be “integrated into Apple Intelligence experiences,” but did not provide a timeframe. It also said the integrations would involve AI capabilities like “text and image understanding and generation.”

U.S. shares of Alibaba rose 4% in pre-market trading on news of the deal and are now up by over 6%, as of the time of publication.