Apple to bring Alibaba's Qwen AI to iPhones in China starting in December

Beijing, China — Alibaba announced on Saturday that its Qwen artificial intelligence model will power parts of Apple Intelligence for iPhone users in China, a partnership that will let Apple offer its AI features in the Chinese market with a local partner.

According to the company, the integration will cover Siri, Writing Tools and Visual Intelligence, the feature that understands what the phone's camera sees. Developers will be able to try it in the iOS beta starting November 4, and the general public launch will arrive with iOS 27.3 in December.

Apple Intelligence had already been filed with China's cyberspace authority in July, and now a domestic partner will supply the technology behind it in that country. The deal resolves one of Apple's main obstacles to bringing its AI features to China, where regulation requires generative models to operate with approved local providers.

The announcement comes in a week marked by the money and power behind artificial intelligence: according to reports, OpenAI has trimmed its fundraising target and valuation goal, while debate over the safety and cost of AI infrastructure keeps growing worldwide.

For Chinese users, the change means Siri and the iPhone's writing tools will work for the first time with a model developed in the country, a step Apple presents as key to competing in the world's largest smartphone market.

Photo: CGTN

Source: CGTN