BEIJING (Realist English). On 4 November, Apple began a trial rollout of its artificial intelligence tools for Chinese users. Initially, Apple Intelligence features, introduced in the US and other countries in autumn 2024, were unavailable in China due to strict regulatory requirements and because the Google and OpenAI models Apple uses in other regions are not available in the country.
Launch conditions: partnership with Alibaba and regulatory approval
A key condition for entering the Chinese market was a partnership with the local tech giant. Apple integrated Alibaba’s Qwen AI model to provide more powerful on-device features, complementing its own basic AI capabilities.
As The Next Web notes, Apple became the first foreign company to receive Beijing’s approval to provide its own proprietary AI model in mainland China — a rare concession in a market that carefully guards its algorithms.
Regulatory approval was obtained in July 2026 after negotiations with Alibaba, Baidu, ByteDance and Tencent. Chinese law requires generative AI service providers to register with the Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC), use local data centres and process data within the country.
What was included in the first release and what is missing
The first package includes 18 AI features, including:
- live translation of phone calls and messages;
- text tools: summarisation, proofreading, rewriting;
- visual intelligence — recognising objects and scenes via the camera (implemented with support from Baidu’s search technology);
- photo editing features (Clean Up), emoji generation (Genmoji), notification and email summaries.
However, the updated Siri AI — the main AI upgrade to the voice assistant — was not included in the first release. As GSM Arena notes, this is because launching Siri AI will require a separate regulatory process. In addition, due to local laws, Apple will not be able to launch the Image Playground feature — an image generator — in China. Overall, the feature set in China will be narrower than in the US and other Western countries.
Market background: playing catch-up
The launch is seen as an attempt by Apple to narrow the gap with Chinese smartphone makers, which are already actively integrating AI features. As Ivan Lam, senior analyst at Counterpoint Research, noted, the long-awaited launch “closes a long-standing gap in Apple’s AI offering” but is unlikely to give the company a “significant advantage” in a crowded market.
Apple’s financial performance in China remains strong nonetheless: revenue in Greater China grew by 21% for the quarter, and sales of the iPhone 18 Pro in China in the first three weeks after launch grew by 29% year-on-year. According to Omdia, more than 110 million iPhones in China are compatible with Apple Intelligence, creating a basis for rapid adoption, but competition remains fierce.
Compromise and its price
Analysts characterise the Alibaba deal as a “structural concession” by Apple on pricing and defining the AI experience in the Chinese market. The delay in launching was caused not by a lag in research and development but by the “compliance costs” of regulatory requirements.
For a company that traditionally seeks to control every layer of its products, handing over assistant and search functions — the most sought-after by users — to Chinese partners (Alibaba for models, Baidu for search) is a notable departure from its usual model. In addition, Chinese law obliges companies such as Alibaba to assist state security services, which calls into question the verifiability of Apple’s privacy promises in this region.
The launch of Apple Intelligence in China is not so much a technological breakthrough as a forced compromise dictated by regulatory reality. Apple had to abandon its usual model of full control over the AI stack, transferring key functions to local partners, and agree to a reduced set of capabilities compared to Western markets.
The two-year delay resulted not only in lost time but also in weakened differentiation: when the iPhone uses the same Alibaba or Baidu models as competitors, the uniqueness of Apple’s AI experience in China is eroded. The question now is whether the company can convert its 110-million-strong base of compatible devices into a real advantage, or whether its position in the Chinese market will continue to be determined not by AI but by brand and ecosystem.
