Apple Intelligence is coming to China
China’s cyberspace regulator says Apple Intelligence has been registered for use in China.
This is a critical step toward the launch of these services there, most probably at around the same point the company launches new devices in September.
Apple already works with third-party AI providers in some ways for Apple Intelligence, principally by offloading more complex queries to those partners.
Building together
In the US, that partner is currently Chat GPT, but it won’t be alone for long. In China, Apple will work with Baidu and Alibaba, Reuters reports, though Apple hasn’t commented on the report.
Alibaba told Reuters that its Qwen AI will be integrated into Apple Intelligence experiences across Apple’s platforms, bringing the nascent service in line with China’s strict internet regulation.
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None of this is particularly surprising at this point, given Apple has been speaking with both Chinese AI giants since 2025, but for Chinese users it is reassuring that Apple Intelligence will get to them soon, possibly before it even arrives in Europe.
The importance of China to Apple’s business is enduring. Apple reported a 24.4% Year-on-year increase in iPhone shipments in China in Q2, while IDC this week confirmed Apple and Huawei as the only two vendors to see any kind off growth in the Chinese smartphone market.
This comes as Apple experiences relative surge in marketshare across its product lines, as diligently reported in daily Apple news monitoring service, The Core.
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