A person uses Apple Intelligence on an iPhone outside of the Beijing Apple Store.
Suzanne Kantra/Techlicious generated by ChatGPT
Apple Intelligence, the company's suite of on-device AI tools for writing help, image generation and a smarter Siri, has cleared its last major hurdle to reach iPhones in China: approval from the country's internet regulator.
China's Cyberspace Administration registered Apple's generative AI service this week, according to Reuters (paywall), placing Apple on the same approved list as the AI systems built by Chinese phone makers. That registration is required before any generative AI product can operate in the country, and its absence is the reason Apple Intelligence never launched for Chinese customers, even as the features rolled out everywhere else Apple sells iPhones.
Apple couldn't extend the AI models it uses in the US to Chinese iPhones because China requires generative AI services operating in the country to run on models and infrastructure built by locally licensed companies. Apple's usual AI partners don't qualify. To comply with Chinese regulations, Apple formed a partnership with Alibaba, whose Qwen model will power Apple Intelligence's text and image features for Chinese users across iOS, iPadOS, macOS, and visionOS. Baidu has also confirmed it's working with Apple on AI features for Chinese iPhone owners.
Apple introduced Apple Intelligence in mid-2024, and it's been available in the US and other markets for more than a year. Apple reported a 24.4% year-on-year increase in its China shipments in its most recent quarter, even without Apple Intelligence available there, according to Reuters, while competing phone makers selling in China have offered their own on-device AI assistants, including those built on Alibaba's and Baidu's models, the entire time.
Partnering with two of China's largest AI companies gets Apple Intelligence in front of Chinese iPhone owners faster than building out its own China-compliant AI infrastructure from scratch would have. Whether Chinese users get the same Apple Intelligence features available elsewhere, or a version shaped by Alibaba's and Baidu's models, remains an open question Apple hasn't answered yet.
Apple hasn't said when Apple Intelligence will appear on iPhones in China, only that the approval clears the path for a rollout.
Read next: The iOS 27 public beta is here: Is the new Siri worth the bugs?
