Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) published a guide explaining how Mac users in mainland China can connect Alibaba's (NYSE: BABA) Qwen AI to Siri and Writing Tools. The move is part of Apple's effort to compete in China's AI PC market, where its share has fallen to 9% of PC shipments, compared with Lenovo's 31% and Huawei's 16%, according to Omdia.
Mac shipments in mainland China fell 9% year on year in the first quarter to roughly 800,000 units, according to Omdia. The decline shows why Apple is moving to offer AI features built for the local market.
What Qwen adds to Siri and Writing Tools
Qwen is Alibaba's family of generative AI models that can create text and images and analyze documents and photos in response to prompts. Users who opt in can access Qwen through Siri for more detailed responses to certain requests, including analysis of photos and documents, per Apple's updated Chinese-language guide.
Writing Tools can also draw on Qwen to generate text or images from a description, adding creative and productivity functions for Mac users in China. The extension is intended for Macs running macOS 26.6 or later and requires users to activate the extension and sign in to a Qwen account under China-specific conditions. For writers, the setup points to a future where AI for Writers is built into the tools they already use, rather than a separate app.
Privacy conditions and competitive pressure
Apple's guide specifies that Alibaba cannot use any shared materials to train or improve its AI models, a condition aimed at addressing user privacy concerns. Linking Qwen to Siri and Writing Tools gives Apple a locally compliant route to offer more capable document, image, and content-creation functions while keeping control of the Mac interface.
Lenovo has made its Tianxi personal AI agent central to its AI PC strategy, while Huawei continues to build AI functions across its HarmonyOS ecosystem. Both companies are pushing AI features into their hardware while Apple's PC share in China sits at 9%.
What the deal means for Alibaba
For Alibaba, integration with Apple's built-in software could significantly broaden Qwen's reach beyond its own applications and cloud services. Alibaba has said Qwen will be incorporated into Apple Intelligence across iPhone, iPad, Mac, and Vision Pro software in China, though Apple's published guide currently covers Macs only.
Alibaba this week also released Qwen3.8-Max, a 2.4-trillion-parameter model it calls its most capable to date. Apple's guide does not specify which Qwen model the Mac extension uses.
Why this matters for writers
The integration gives writers a concrete look at how AI-assisted writing and image generation will work inside a mainstream operating system. Apple's privacy condition, which keeps shared materials out of Alibaba's training data, also sets a precedent for how AI for Creatives features may be rolled out in other regions. Writers who work with Apple hardware should watch how this rollout develops, since it could shape the way AI writing tools are delivered on other platforms.
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