Apple has chosen Alibaba to provide artificial intelligence (AI) features for iPhones in China, marking a major move to boost its presence in the country. Apple Intelligence features are currently unavailable in China, which many believe has contributed to a drop in iPhone sales in the region.
Alibaba’s chairman, Joseph Tsai, confirmed the partnership, saying, “They talked to several companies in China. In the end, they chose to do business with us. They want to use our AI to power their phones. We feel extremely honoured to do business with a great company like Apple.”
Apple had reportedly evaluated AI models from several Chinese tech giants, including Tencent, ByteDance, and DeepSeek. While the deal with Alibaba is now public, speculation remains that Apple may fully collaborate with other companies to enable iPhone AI capabilities in China.
Regulatory approval and competition in AI partnerships
The AI landscape in China is tightly regulated, requiring Apple and Alibaba to seek approval for any consumer-facing AI features. According to a report from The Information, Apple and Alibaba have already submitted the necessary materials to regulators to gain approval for the integration.
Meanwhile, Apple is working with Baidu on an AI-powered search function that can process text and images. This could also lead to enhancements for the Chinese version of Siri, although Apple has not made any official announcements on this matter.
Outside China, Apple Intelligence relies on a combination of Apple’s technology and OpenAI’s ChatGPT. However, since ChatGPT is unavailable in China, Apple may need to adopt a different approach—potentially involving multiple AI partners—to fully roll out its AI features in the country.
Apple faces pressure to regain smartphone market share
Apple’s declining smartphone sales in China have intensified the urgency to bring AI features to iPhones. In 2024, the company lost its top spot in China’s smartphone market, dropping to third place in Q4 behind Huawei and Xiaomi. Many analysts believe the absence of AI capabilities on iPhones has been a key factor in Apple’s falling sales.
By introducing AI through Alibaba and potentially other Chinese tech firms, Apple hopes to reverse this trend and regain its competitive edge in one of the world’s largest smartphone markets.
