Apple is trying to negotiate with the authorities to launch Apple Intelligence in China and the EU

When announcing the Apple Intelligence suite of artificial intelligence features at WWDC 2024, Apple warned that only US English would be supported initially, with others to be added over the next year. Currently, users in China and the EU cannot try these features at all, but Apple says it is consulting with local regulators about their rollout.

Image source: apple.com

During the briefing after the quarterly financial report, Apple CEO Tim Cook was asked about the prospects for Apple Intelligence in other markets, especially China and the EU. The head of the company did not give a detailed answer, but said that Apple is “working” with regulators to make AI functions available “to everyone.” For now, the company wants to understand for itself all the regulatory requirements that apply to AI in various countries, after which it will be possible to talk about the timing of the deployment of these functions outside the United States.

Some Apple Intelligence features arrived with the release of the iOS 18 developer beta on iPhone 15 Pro. Users with appropriate accounts in some countries can select English in the phone settings and set the US region, but not in China and the EU, where Apple has blocked them completely. In the EU case, the company cited “privacy and security concerns,” likely referring to local law governing AI. Chinese law requires that user data be processed on servers within the country and not sent to others.

As for support for other languages, Mr. Cook reiterated that Apple Intelligence will debut in American English this fall, with support for new features and languages ​​“over the next year.” He did not specify whether they will appear with iOS 18 or will have to wait until the fall of 2025, when iOS 19 is released. The functions will be available for free on iOS 18 and macOS 15, but they will require the latest devices on Apple M1 processors and later chips. same family, as well as on both versions of the iPhone 15 Pro.