Apple will utilize Alibaba’s generative AI to empower artificial intelligence features targeted toward iPhones meant for sale in the Chinese market. Joe Tsai, the Chairman of Alibaba Group, has confirmed the partnership at the World Governments Summit in Dubai. He revealed that Apple explored partnerships with several other Chinese companies in the midst of this, but ultimately decided to team up with Alibaba. The AI features for Apple, not accessible in China at present, and even those who purchase their iPhones outside the country will not be able to utilize these features once they shift their location to the mainland China.

As CNBC explained, China has strict regulations surrounding AI, including requiring big language models to get approval for commercial use. Companies providing generative AI technologies in the region are also responsible for taking down illicit content. The Information stated that the partnership between Alibaba and Apple was previously reported by the publication, and the companies had already submitted the AI features Apple would introduce to the country’s regulators for approval.

A said that Apple attempted to work with Baidu for its AI requirements last year, but the models for Apple AI that the Chinese company was developing were unable to meet its standards. Apple also informally told several Chinese companies, including Tencent and DeepSeek, but Apple deemed the latter to be lacking in expertise and manpower to handle a massive customer base. The DeepSeek AI assistant, if you recall, recently became the top free iPhone app in the US.

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