Apple aims to launch its AI platform on iPhones sold in China in May, with Bloomberg reporting the company will use its own models and work with local partners to overcome regulatory hurdles.
The US-based vendor has teams in China working to adapt Apple Intelligence to the local market, the news agency noted.
While iPhones in mainland China will run Apple’s own on-device AI models, the handsets will use Alibaba software to censor content not approved by the government in the background without the customer knowing.
Local regulators require companies to secure approval before launching generative AI services.
China’s government can order Alibaba to tell Apple to change its AI models when content runs afoul of state guidelines, Bloomberg wrote.
Baidu will be a secondary partner, working on undisclosed features.
The initiative comes as Apple faces declining iPhone sales in China.
Data from IDC showed iPhone shipments in Q4 2024 dropped 9.6 per cent year-on-year and its share fell from 20 per cent to 17.4 per cent. The research outfit credited the decline to increased competition, particularly from Huawei, and uncertainty around the launch of Apple Intelligence in China.
Apple’s sales in China fell 11.1 per cent to $18.5 billion in its fiscal Q1 2025 (the period to 28 December 2024)
Earlier in the week, Bloomberg reported Alibaba reached a deal with Apple to develop AI features for iPhones sold in China.
Source: Mobile World Live
