Apple Intelligence has been approved to launch in China using Alibaba’s Qwen AI

Apple Intelligence, the iPhone company’s generative AI offering, is coming to China. On Wednesday, Reuters I mentioned China’s regulator, the Cyberspace Administration of China, has approved Apple’s AI services in the country, on the back of a deal to integrate Alibaba’s Qwen AI model into Apple’s operating systems, including iOS, iPadOS, macOS and VisionOS.

The deal that was Rumored to be in the works Last year marked a significant step for Apple’s AI ambitions in a key market. In the second quarter, Apple’s sales in Greater China 28% increase To 20.5 billion dollars. Apple also recently He regained second place In China’s smartphone market after the recent shopping festival offered discounts on the iPhone lineup.

Before working with Alibaba, Apple was reportedly exploring a deal with Baidu, but had problems adapting its models for Chinese customers. Reports also claimed that it has also explored integrations with DeepSeek and with models from ByteDance. This led to a delay in the arrival of Apple Intelligence features, which debuted in 2024, in the Chinese market.

Alibaba certain The company told CNBC in a statement, saying Qwen “will be integrated into Apple Intelligence experiences,” but did not provide a time frame. It also said the integrations will include AI capabilities such as “understanding and creating text and images.”

Alibaba US shares rose 4% in pre-market trading on news of the deal, and are now up more than 6%, as of press time.