iOS 18.6 Apple Intelligence Launch in China Delayed by U.S.-China Trade Tensions

Apple's efforts to bring Apple Intelligence to the critical Chinese market have been stymied by tension resulting from the tariffs that U.S. President Donald Trump put in place, reports Financial Times.

To deploy ‌Apple Intelligence‌ features in China, Apple is working with Alibaba, and the two companies have not yet received regulatory approval in China for the AI products that Apple wants to debut. China's Cyberspace Administration (CAC) must test and approve all AI models before companies can roll out AI services in China, and that's where the process has stalled.

CAC is delaying application approval due to "increasing political uncertainties" between the United States and China. Trump significantly increased tariffs on goods imported from China back in April, and fees reached 145 percent. Apple was exempted from some of the tariffs and the tariffs were later paused for 90 days, but the trade war has been escalating in recent days as the U.S. and China have failed to reach a deal.

Earlier this week, China said that the U.S. had "severely violated" a trade agreement that had been reached at a Geneva meeting in May by limiting sales of jet engine and semiconductor design software to Chinese companies, controlling chip exports, and canceling Visas for Chinese students. Trump claimed that China violated the deal by refusing to roll back some tariffs and restrictions for critical minerals needed for chip production, and he announced plans to raise tariffs on steel back to 50 percent on June 4. Earlier today, he further said that President Xi is "very tough" and "extremely hard to make a deal with."

Chinese regulations prevent Apple from using its own AI technology for ‌Apple Intelligence‌, so Apple is planning to use models developed by Alibaba. Because of the restrictions, Apple has faced delays expanding ‌Apple Intelligence‌ to China, which is a key market. Chinese smartphone manufacturers like Huawei and Xiaomi have a suite of AI features available for customers, which puts Apple far behind in the AI race in the country.

The Trump administration is "considering" putting Alibaba, Tencent, and Baidu on an entity list that would prevent them from engaging in trade with the United States, according to The New York Times. If that happens, Apple will face further issues trying to bring ‌Apple Intelligence‌ to China. The U.S. Bureau of Industry and Security has raised concerns about Apple's plans to partner with Alibaba as well.

Rumors suggest that Apple plans to debut ‌Apple Intelligence‌ in China in an iOS 18.6 update, but it is not clear if that is still going to happen nor do we know when we might get iOS 18.6 due to the approval delays. It has been three weeks since the launch of iOS 18.5, and Apple's beta updates usually come just a few days after a software release.

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