Apple has trained a large language model specifically for the China market, three people familiar with the matter said, a departure from the iPhone maker's strategy of relying on third-party models to power AI features in the country. The AI model was developed in partnership with Alibaba Group and trained with the Chinese tech giant's support, the people said, declining to be named as the information is sensitive and not public. China remains critical to Apple's fortunes, accounting for a significant share of its revenue, and the absence of AI features on Chinese iPhones had been cited as a factor weighing on sales.
Apple's training of its own China-specific model has not been reported before. The company had previously leaned towards domestic partners' models to bring generative AI to iPhones and other devices sold in China, where U.S. models such as Anthropic's Claude and OpenAI's ChatGPT, which Apple pairs with its own technology in its home market, are not available.
Apple and Alibaba did not respond to requests for comment.
A dual-track AI strategy
Apple Intelligence, the company's suite of AI tools, is expected to launch in China in the coming months after an update to its iOS operating system. The planned rollout represents a unique dual-track approach to AI deployment for a foreign firm in China, one that would allow Apple to navigate steep regulatory hurdles that have limited access for many other U.S. technology firms.
A China-tailored model of its own would give Apple greater control over the AI experience in its most competitive overseas market, where it has lost ground to local rivals including Huawei that have raced ahead with AI-equipped handsets. It would also make Apple the first foreign company approved by Beijing to offer a proprietary AI model in China.
The move follows a lengthy regulatory review that ended last month, when the Cyberspace Administration of China registered Apple's generative AI service, clearing the way for Apple Intelligence to reach Chinese iPhones for the first time. Under that arrangement, Alibaba's Qwen model is to be incorporated into the version of Apple Intelligence that ships with compatible iPhone, iPad, Mac and Vision Pro models in China.
What the partnership covers
Apple's collaboration with Alibaba was first confirmed in February 2025, when Alibaba chairman Joe Tsai, speaking at the World Governments Summit in Dubai, said Apple would use the Chinese company's AI to power its phones in China. "They talked to a number of companies in China. In the end they chose to do business with us," Tsai said at the time.
The rollout was subsequently delayed as Apple worked to adapt its features to Chinese regulations. Alibaba's U.S.-listed shares climbed about 4% in premarket trading on news of the registration in July, underscoring investor expectations that the tie-up could reshape China's AI ecosystem.
Why this matters for product and IT teams
For product developers and IT teams watching the China market, the key takeaway on how regulatory approval interacts with model strategy. Apple is running a China-legal AI system without surrendering its own model development, suggesting a path toward operating in controlled environments: build proprietary capabilities in-house for quality and brand control, then integrate local partners for regulatory access. That's a useful blueprint for global companies that need AI features in markets where foreign models are not an option. The fact that Apple deleted a Chinese-language guide showing Mac users how to connect Qwen to Siri shows how quickly these arrangements shift, so teams with China deployments should plan for flexibility rather than fixed integrations.
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