Apple trains its own AI model for China market with Alibaba’s support

Apple has developed its own large language model tailored for the Chinese market, collaborating with Alibaba Group, according to sources familiar with the matter. This marks a shift from Apple's previous reliance on third-party AI models to power features on its devices in China, where American AI models like Anthropic's Claude and OpenAI's ChatGPT are unavailable.

The partnership, not previously reported, has not been confirmed by Apple or Alibaba. Apple Intelligence, the company's suite of AI tools, is set to launch in China in the coming months, following an update to its iOS operating system. This move signals Apple's desire to gain greater control over the AI experience in the competitive Chinese market, where it has fallen behind local rivals like Huawei.

The collaboration with Alibaba and potential involvement from Baidu marks a unique dual-track strategy for Apple in AI deployment in China. The Cyberspace Administration of China recently registered Apple's generative AI service, clearing the regulatory hurdles that had previously limited access for many U.S. technology firms.