Alibaba Technologies to Become the Basis of Apple Intelligence in China — Apple Abandons DeepSeek

IPhone sales in China are declining, partly because Apple has yet to launch its Apple Intelligence AI features in the local market, 9to5mac reports. But The Information has learned that Apple recently partnered with a major Chinese vendor to bring AI features to devices for the local market.

Image Source: Apple

The American manufacturer was previously told that it would need to secure support from local partners to deploy AI functions on smartphones for the Chinese market. If Apple insists on using its own AI system, it will face a long and difficult process of obtaining approval from Chinese regulators.

Apple appears to have chosen the first option and entered into a partnership with Chinese company Alibaba to implement Apple Intelligence in iPhones, iPads, and Macs for the Chinese market. According to a source familiar with the matter, Apple and Alibaba have already submitted the AI ​​features they jointly developed for use in Apple devices in the Chinese market to the Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC) for approval. This indicates that significant progress has been made in the partnership between the two companies. Apple has already announced that Apple Intelligence support for Chinese will be coming to iOS 18.4 in April this year.

The Information also reported that Apple had been testing AI models from startup DeepSeek, but decided against implementing them in its devices in China, at least for now.

Apple has previously reportedly partnered with Baidu to develop AI features for the iPhone and other devices offered in China. The company has apparently decided to work with multiple Chinese partners on different aspects of the Apple Intelligence suite.