Apple Intelligence Approved in China with Alibaba's Qwen AI Model

Apple's AI service, Apple Intelligence, received regulatory clearance in China on Wednesday, with Alibaba's Qwen AI model integrated across iOS, iPadOS, macOS, and visionOS for Chinese users. China's Cyberspace Administration listed Apple's service as an approved provider, though no launch date was specified. An Alibaba spokesperson confirmed the partnership, noting users can access Qwen's text and image features within Apple's interface. Apple is also working with Baidu on additional features. Alibaba's U.S.-listed shares rose about 4% pre-market. The approval ends a wait since Apple Intelligence was announced in 2024 but delayed due to regulatory hurdles. Apple's China shipments rose 24.4% year-over-year in Q2. Separately, Apple unveiled a Siri rebuild powered by Google Gemini at WWDC, set for iOS 27 this fall, previously unavailable in China. The clearance comes amid US-China tech competition and regulatory tensions, including Alibaba banning staff from using Anthropic's tools and US Congress considering restrictions on Chinese AI.