Apple is working to bring its AI features to China as early as May, with Alibaba and Baidu acting as local partners to help the company meet strict state regulations, according to a new Bloomberg report.
Apple is said to have dedicated teams in both China and the US working to adapt its Apple Intelligence platform for the Chinese market, as it navigates the country's complex regulatory system.
Alibaba is Apple's primary partner in the endeavor, with the e-commerce giant reportedly building an on-device system to analyze and modify Apple's AI models for iPhone, iPad, and Mac users in China. The system will include built-in censorship and filtering capabilities to comply with Chinese government requirements. Meanwhile, Baidu will act as a secondary partner, handling features like Visual Intelligence for the upcoming iPhone 16.
The Chinese version of Apple Intelligence will differ significantly from the one featured on US Apple devices. The US version combines on-device features, server-based processing (Private Cloud Compute), and ChatGPT integration. In contrast, the Chinese version will rely heavily on local partnerships. Alibaba's software will basically be an intermediary layer that allows government-directed content filtering without the user knowing it.
The AI features that result from the partnership will only be available on Apple devices sold within China, while devices purchased elsewhere and brought into the country won't have access to the local AI system. Apple has reportedly submitted materials to Chinese authorities for approval, but it still faces some regulatory hurdles before the features can be launched.
The combined effort comes as Apple faces declining sales in China, its largest market outside the US, where local smartphone brands have gained market share partly thanks to their AI offerings.
