Apple will use Alibaba’s generative AI to power artificial intelligence features for iPhones meant for sale in the Chinese market. Joe Tsai, Alibaba Group’s Chairman, has confirmed the companies’ partnership at the World Governments Summit in Dubai. He revealed that Apple talked to a number of other companies in China for a potential partnership, but it decided to team up with Alibaba in the end. Apple Intelligence features are not accessible in China at the moment, and even those who purchased their iPhones outside the country will not be able to use those features once they change their region to mainland China.
As CNBC explains, the country has strict regulations surrounding AI, including requiring large language models to get approval for commercial use. Companies providing generative AI technologies in the region are also responsible for taking down illegal content. The Information reported about the partnership between Alibaba and Apple before Tsai confirmed it. The publication said that the companies had already submitted the AI features Apple plans to roll out to the country’s regulators for approval.
A previous report said that Apple tried to work with Baidu for its AI needs last year, but the models for Apple Intelligence that the Chinese company was developing were unable to meet its standards. Apple also reportedly talked to other Chinese companies, including Tencent and DeepSeek, but Apple deemed the latter to be lacking in experience and manpower to be able to handle a massive customer base. The DeepSeek AI assistant, if you’ll recall, recently went viral and became the top free iPhone app in the US.
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