According to The Information, the US technology giant has joined hands with Alibaba - one of China's leading e-commerce groups to deploy Apple Intelligence on iPhone, iPad and Mac in this country.
The move is part of Apple's strategy to boost the appeal of its software amid falling sales and growing competition from domestic brands such as Huawei and Vivo.
Apple and Alibaba have submitted jointly developed AI features to China’s cyberspace regulator for approval, according to sources, indicating that the cooperation between the two companies is making significant progress.
Previously, due to some limitations, Apple could not directly deploy AI features without cooperation with a domestic company. This is the reason why the launch of Apple Intelligence in China was delayed, although Apple is well aware that AI is an important factor driving smartphone sales in this market.
Apple has confirmed that Apple Intelligence support for the Chinese market will appear in the iOS 18.4 update coming in April. However, the company has not yet announced specific plans to fully deploy the AI features there.
Notably, the report also mentions that Apple tested DeepSeek’s AI models while looking for a way to bring AI to China, but the company has reportedly decided not to implement them in its plans, at least for now.
