Apple has received Chinese regulatory approval to launch its Apple Intelligence AI features in the country, after striking a deal to integrate Alibaba's Qwen AI model into iOS, iPadOS, macOS and visionOS. China's Cyberspace Administration signed off on the services, clearing a hurdle that had delayed Apple Intelligence in the Chinese market since its 2024 debut, and marking a significant step for Apple's AI ambitions in one of its most important markets.

Baidu has also confirmed it is working with Apple on developing Apple Intelligence features for Chinese users, alongside the Alibaba partnership, though no launch timeframe has been given. Alibaba said its Qwen models would be integrated into Apple Intelligence to power capabilities such as text and image understanding and generation. The news comes as Apple's Greater China sales reached $20.5 billion in the second quarter, up 28% year-on-year, and as the company regained second place in China's smartphone market following discount-driven shopping festival sales. Apple is reportedly also exploring further integrations with DeepSeek and ByteDance.