Apple Trains China AI Model With Alibaba Support

Apple flagship Store at Bahnhofstra, Switzerland.

 Apple Trains China-Specific AI Model With Alibaba Support

BEIJING — August 14, 2026

Apple has trained a large language model specifically for the Chinese market with support from Alibaba, according to three people familiar with the matter. The move would give Apple more control over the artificial intelligence features it plans to offer on devices in China.

The China-specific AI model marks a change from Apple’s earlier approach, which relied more heavily on models developed by local technology companies to provide generative AI features on Chinese devices. The people familiar with the matter spoke anonymously because the work has not been publicly announced.

Apple and Alibaba have been working together on AI services for Apple devices in China. The planned system is expected to form part of the company’s broader Apple Intelligence rollout, which is expected to reach Chinese users in the coming months following an update to Apple’s operating system.

Apple has faced a different AI environment in China from the one in its other major markets. U.S.-developed services such as OpenAI’s ChatGPT and Anthropic’s Claude are not available in the same way in China, increasing the importance of partnerships with domestic technology companies.

A China-focused model developed by Apple could give the company greater control over how AI features operate on iPhones and other devices sold in the country. It could also help Apple respond to competition from Chinese smartphone makers such as Huawei, which have increasingly integrated AI functions into their devices.

The development comes after Apple cleared a lengthy regulatory process in China. In July, the Cyberspace Administration of China, the country’s internet regulator, registered Apple’s generative AI service, allowing the company to move closer to launching Apple Intelligence on Chinese devices.

Under the planned arrangement, Alibaba’s Qwen AI model is expected to be incorporated into the Chinese version of Apple Intelligence for compatible iPhone, iPad, Mac and Vision Pro devices. Apple’s China AI services were also expected to include technology from Baidu.

Apple has already begun testing ways to connect Alibaba’s AI technology with some of its products. The company recently published a Chinese-language guide explaining how eligible Mac users in mainland China could connect Alibaba’s Qwen service to Siri and Apple’s Writing Tools feature. Apple later removed the guide without explaining why.

Apple’s cooperation with Alibaba was first publicly confirmed in February 2025, when Alibaba Chairman Joe Tsai said Apple had selected the Chinese company to provide AI technology for its devices in China. The rollout was later delayed while Apple worked to meet Chinese regulatory requirements.

The latest development suggests Apple is pursuing a more flexible approach to AI in China, potentially combining its own technology with models from domestic partners. However, it remains unclear how Apple’s newly trained model would operate alongside Alibaba’s Qwen and other Chinese AI systems.

China is an important market for Apple, both for sales and its wider business. The lack of Apple Intelligence on Chinese iPhones has been seen as a disadvantage as local smartphone makers have promoted devices with built-in AI assistants.

Apple’s effort to develop a China-specific model also comes as technology cooperation between U.S. and Chinese companies faces growing pressure from trade restrictions and broader tensions between the two countries. If approved and launched as planned, the system could give Apple greater control over its AI products while helping the company operate within China’s regulatory requirements.