According to a new Reuters report, Apple has trained its own large language model for Apple Intelligence for the China market, with the help of Alibaba. The development marks a change in Apple’s previous strategy to rely on domestic models to provide generative AI for its devices sold in China.
Apple is expected to roll out its new AI features in China over the coming months. The report says the rollout is a “dual-track strategy” for AI deployment in China, allowing Apple to better navigate the regulatory hurdles that have limited access for other U.S. tech companies in the communist country.
The move makes Apple the first foreign company approved by the Chinese government to offer a proprietary AI model in the country.
As reported by iDropNews, while Apple’s US-made AI models were approved in every other market Apple serves, the Beijing government insisted that Apple’s large language models (LLMs) on Chinese iPhones must be free of foreign influence, forcing Apple to find a partner in China to co-develop its LLMs. Extensions like ChatGPT, which Apple relied on to back up Siri in iOS 18 (and iOS 26) would no longer be allowed.
Apple agreed with Chinese regulators to incorporate Alibaba’s Qwen model into Apple Intelligence features. Apple briefly published a support guide in China walking Mac users through connecting Alibaba’s Qwen AI to Siri and Writing Tools, before pulling it from the web less than a day later.
Contrary to previous rumors, Apple will not be using an off-the-shelf LLM from Alibaba to launch in China. Instead, Reuters says its sources tell it that Apple has trained an entirely new LLM specifically designed for use in the country.