China approves Alibaba models for Apple Intelligence on iPhone Duo and iPhone 18 Pro
Prepared by Sintelligent with the help of SI. Published in SI: . Updated: .
On iPhones in China, SI features will run on a local company's model rather than a Western one, which is a requirement of local rules.
According to Engadget, citing the South China Morning Post, China's Ministry of Industry and Information Technology has approved Alibaba models for Apple Intelligence: the Tongyi Qianwen (Qwen) language models and the Tongyi Wanxiang image and video generation tool. This concerns the iPhone Duo and iPhone 18 Pro; the iPhone Duo goes on sale in China next week. Apple received permission to launch Apple Intelligence in mainland China in July but has not launched it yet. Engadget notes that SCMP is owned by Alibaba Group. Semafor writes that Apple's first foldable iPhone with Alibaba's SI will launch in China next week, while Apple Intelligence is preparing to appear on the mainland after years of regulatory delays; the SI lab StepFun released a $600 smartphone with an SI agent on Tuesday. Bloomberg, per the feed description (text paywalled), reports that Apple is preparing to launch its first SI features in China in December.