China approves Apple Intelligence with Alibaba's Qwen AI on board

China has approved the launch of Apple Intelligence, Apple's generative AI service, in the country. Under the approval, Alibaba's AI model Qwen and Baidu's search service will be integrated into Apple Intelligence for the Chinese market.

China's Cyberspace Administration of China approved Apple's generative AI on Wednesday (local time), placing it on a list of newly authorized service providers alongside domestic companies including Huawei and Xiaomi, Bloomberg and CNBC reported.

In the Chinese version of Apple Intelligence, Alibaba's Qwen will serve as a filter of sorts, linked to the approval process that governs ongoing LLM updates. Search functionality will be connected to Baidu's service.

Alibaba said Qwen "will be integrated into the Apple Intelligence experience on iOS, iPadOS, macOS and visionOS for users in China."

News of the approval sent Apple shares up 4.0 percent to close at $327.50 on the New York Stock Exchange. Alibaba's American depositary receipts surged 4.8 percent to $117.70 and added another 1.0 percent in after-hours trading. Baidu's ADRs also climbed more than 4 percent at one point during trading.

The approval came after roughly two years of regulatory review since Apple first unveiled Apple Intelligence in 2024.

Outgoing Apple CEO Tim Cook has been working to strengthen ties with China, including joining Donald Trump's business delegation during the US president's visit to the country in May. Cook is set to hand over the role to John Ternus in September but will remain as board chairman, continuing to engage with policymakers around the world.

The approval comes amid intensifying competition between the two countries over AI supremacy.

Alibaba this month banned its employees from using Anthropic's AI, while the US Congress is examining ways to discourage American companies from adopting Chinese-made AI models.

Meta was forced by Chinese authorities to unwind its $2 billion acquisition of Chinese firm Manus.

Apple plans to introduce a new Apple foundation model powered by Google's Gemini AI alongside iOS 27, set for release this fall, though the revamped voice assistant "Siri AI" is said to require further negotiations with Chinese regulators.