Apple Intelligence approved for launch in China with Alibaba and Baidu
TechCrunch Sarah Perez ● Covered by 2 sources
China just cleared Apple Intelligence for launch, with Alibaba's Qwen and Baidu both powering it. Apple's AI features have been stuck in regulatory limbo there since 2024 — now the wait might finally be over.
Based on reporting by TechCrunch, Sarah Perez — read the original for the full story.
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Apple just cleared a hurdle in China that had been sitting in its way for close to two years. Reuters reported Wednesday that the Cyberspace Administration of China, the country's internet content regulator, approved Apple Intelligence for Chinese users, tied to a deal that folds Alibaba's Qwen AI model into iOS, iPadOS, macOS, and visionOS. Hours later, a Baidu spokesperson told TechCrunch that it too is working with Apple on building out Apple Intelligence features for the Chinese market.
This has been a long time coming. Apple Intelligence debuted back in 2024, but regulatory approval never materialized in China, leaving Chinese iPhone owners without the features everyone else got. The Alibaba tie-up had been rumored since last year, and the Baidu talks surfaced too, though earlier reporting suggested Apple was struggling to adapt its models for Chinese users. Now both companies are apparently in the mix, which says something about how much Apple wants to get this right rather than settle for a single partner.
The timing matters. Apple pulled in $20.5 billion in Greater China sales last quarter, up 28% year-over-year, and just clawed back the No. 2 spot in China's smartphone market following discounts during a shopping festival. AI features that actually work for Chinese consumers, in their language and within local regulatory bounds, could help Apple hold onto that momentum instead of ceding ground to phone makers who've already shipped local AI integrations.
Alibaba, for its part, confirmed the news separately to CNBC, saying Qwen would be woven into Apple Intelligence for things like text and image understanding and generation. No launch date was given. Apple is also reportedly looking at DeepSeek and ByteDance as potential partners, suggesting this isn't a one-and-done deal but the start of a broader, multi-vendor approach to cracking a market it can't afford to get wrong.
My take — AI-written commentary, not fact-checked reporting
Apple spent nearly two years locked out of its own AI push in China, and the fix wasn't better engineering, it was politics. Pairing up with both Alibaba and Baidu, and reportedly eyeing DeepSeek and ByteDance too, looks less like strategy and more like hedging against a regulator that could just as easily change its mind again. Anyone counting on Apple's AI story to look the same everywhere should recheck that assumption.
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