Breakthrough in China: Apple wins Alibaba as AI partner
For a long time, it was unclear with whom Apple would enter the important Chinese market in terms of AI. Alibaba won the race ahead of other AI providers.
(Image: Apple)
Apple is working with Chinese AI provider Alibaba to bring Apple Intelligence to China. This has now been officially confirmed by the head of Alibaba, Joe Tsai, at an event in Dubai. Apple Intelligence in China will therefore be based on Alibaba's Qwen model. The Chinese leadership expects Apple to search for a local partner. In addition, the US-American ChatGPT is not available in China.
For Apple, the Chinese special path instead of using its self-developed AI models is certainly not the dream path. However, analysts are breathing a sigh of relief in Cupertino, California. The uncertainty as to when and how Apple will be able to offer integrated artificial intelligence in its products in China is said to have increasingly influenced Chinese customers' willingness to buy. With the possibility of integrating AI functions into the operating system in China, Apple hopes to be able to increase its market share again.
Launch date still open
However, it is still unclear when Alibaba and Apple will launch the China version of Apple Intelligence. Rumor has it that the launch could take place at the end of March at a local developer conference in China, according to various media reports.
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Apple was very selective, Tsai said, and spoke to several companies before deciding on Alibaba. This is in line with various media reports, according to which Apple is also said to have considered Baidu meanwhile. DeepSeek, which made headlines worldwide with its low-cost trained AI model, is also said to have been on the list of candidates.
EU launch in April
The European launch in the European Union, which Apple CEO Tim Cook has announced for April, is expected first. This is likely to take place with the release of iOS 18.4. Considering the strong regulation of digital products by the European Union, Apple did not comment on when European users would be able to use Apple Intelligence after the presentation of its AI. Currently, EU citizens can only use it with an Apple account that comes from a non-EU country. Support for additional languages is also expected in April.
(mki)
