Apple Gets Approval For iPhone AI In China With Alibaba, Baidu

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Apple Inc. on Wednesday received long-awaited government approval to roll out Apple Intelligence in China, potentially giving it a boost in the world’s most competitive smartphone market.

The Cyberspace Administration of China on Wednesday included Apple’s generative artificial intelligence on a list of newly approved providers, alongside recent offerings from local companies like Huawei Technologies Co. and Xiaomi Corp.

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The iPhone maker introduced its AI features two years ago, adding tools for writing, generating images, summarizing notifications and creating custom emojis. The features have been stuck in the Chinese approval process and development required Apple to work with outside partners.

A customer tries the Apple Intelligence function on an iPhone.
Photo Credit: Bloomberg

The version of Apple Intelligence for the China market was modified to include Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. technology as a filter of sorts that works with the Chinese government to approve on-going large language model updates. Apple had completed work on this a year ago.

The US version of the features tap into services from Alphabet Inc.’s Google and OpenAI for search, while the Chinese version works with Baidu Inc. Both Alibaba and Baidu confirmed on Wednesday that they are part of the launch for Apple in China. The news sent Alibaba’s American depositary receipts up as much as 7.9% after markets opened in New York. Baidu’s ADRs gained as much as 4%.

While the features have been cleared, Apple did not immediately respond to a request for comment about the timing of the rollout. Earlier this year, Apple accidentally enabled the features in China for hours without approval.

Since Apple’s initial Apple Intelligence rollout, the system has been overhauled for iOS 27,…

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