Alibaba chairman confirms partnership with Apple to bring AI on iPhones in China

Apple Intelligence

It has been several months since Apple rolled out Apple Intelligence — its AI features — for iPhone users. However, in China, Apple Intelligence hasn't been made available. Now, Alibaba chairman has confirmed that it is partnering with Apple to bring AI features on iPhones.

According to a report by CNBC, Joe Tsai, chairman, Alibaba revealed the news at the World Governments Summit in Dubai. “Apple  talked to a number of companies in China, and in the end, they chose to do business with us. They want to use our AI to power their phones,” Tsai said.

China has rather strict regulatory framework around around the use of AI. China has introduced a series of AI regulations, including mandates that require large language models to obtain government approval before commercial use. Additionally, generative AI providers are held accountable for removing any content deemed "illegal" by authorities.

Apple’s partnership with Alibaba could provide a pathway to navigate China’s complex regulatory landscape. Alibaba, one of China’s leading tech giants, has developed its own large language models and voice assistants. Tsai, as per the report, said that the partnership could help Apple tailor its AI technologies to meet Chinese regulations while leveraging Alibaba’s expertise in the local market.

In other regions, Apple has partnered with OpenAI to integrate ChatGPT on iPhones. At a recent earnings call, Apple CEO Tim Cook revealed that Apple Intelligence features will roll out in several other markets in April. It does seem like with the reported partnership with Alibaba, Apple could finally bring AI to iPhones in China.

Apple has been losing ground in the Chinese market in the past few quarters. Rivals like Huawei have already a slew of AI features on their phones whereas iPhone has been lacking on them.