Apple partners with Alibaba in AI as Chinese rivals embrace DeepSeek

The iPhone maker struck a deal to use Alibaba’s Qwen models for Apple Intelligence in mainland China, the South China Morning Post reported on Tuesday, citing sources. Apple Intelligence is supported by OpenAI’s ChatGPT in most international markets, but in China, only AI models approved by the government can be used.

The agreement concluded Apple’s months-long search for a local partner in China to launch its on-device AI function, while domestic rivals had already introduced competing…