Apple Intelligence has been approved by Chinese regulators, opening the door for the AI system to reach iPhones in the country for the first time.
Reuters reports that China's Cyberspace Administration registered Apple's on-device generative AI service this week, putting it on a list of newly cleared providers that also includes homegrown systems from Chinese phone makers.
An unnamed source told the outlet that Apple's AI features in the country will draw on models from both Baidu and Alibaba. In February 2025, Alibaba was reported to be building the primary system and Baidu contributing on a smaller scale.
Alibaba confirmed its part of the arrangement directly, telling Reuters that its Qwen model will power Apple Intelligence functions across iOS, iPadOS, macOS, and visionOS for Chinese users, including both text and image generation. No launch date has been given, though approval typically precedes a rollout by only a few months, putting a China debut roughly in line with Apple's usual fall software release cycle.
Apple actually briefly switched the features on early for some Chinese users back in March, months ahead of getting the green light, and a feedback form aimed at Chinese users appeared on Apple's site late last year as the company inched closer to approval.
iPhone shipments in China climbed 24.4 percent year-over-year in the second quarter, making Apple the fastest-growing smartphone brand in a market that otherwise kept shrinking. A working version of Apple Intelligence could help sustain that momentum, though Apple is still catching up to domestic rivals that built AI features into their phones well before it did.
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