Bloomberg reports that Apple plans to finally launch Apple Intelligence in China in December, although some important features could still be missing. Here are the details.
Apple Intelligence to see limited launch in China with iOS 27.3
Earlier today, a report from the South China Morning Post claimed that Chinese regulators had approved the use of Alibaba’s AI models to power Apple Intelligence, following preliminary approval for the platform’s rollout in July.
The report noted that the timing of the approval was particularly relevant, as the iPhone Duo is scheduled to launch in China next week.
Now, Bloomberg reports that Apple “is planning to launch Apple Intelligence in the region in December as part of an upcoming iOS 27.3 update,” although the launch “will exclude the new Siri AI assistant and other features announced this year,” according to the publication’s sources.
The move comes after a lengthy and complicated effort to bring Apple Intelligence to China, where local regulations governing AI-generated content, security assessments, and algorithm registration have forced Apple to take a different approach than in other markets.
In order to get Apple Intelligence approved, the company had to make some concessions. Unlike in other countries, the platform has guardrails developed with China’s Alibaba Group Holding Ltd., including a filter that allows the government to approve ongoing updates to the AI models. Apple is also working with Baidu Inc. on features related to search and Siri.
On Sept. 29, Apple received Chinese permits allowing recent iPhones to support the use of Apple Intelligence and Alibaba AI models, including Tongyi Wanxiang and Qwen.
The report notes that Apple Intelligence’s launch in China will not feature “the company’s in-house image-generation tools,” while certain “features for generating text will also be limited in some applications.”
According to Bloomberg, the initial rollout will include Genmoji for creating custom emoji, Apple’s AI-powered notification summaries, writing tools, and the Clean Up feature in Photos, which lets users remove unwanted objects from images.
The report notes that it is unclear whether these features will be enough to win over Chinese consumers, as local smartphone makers have already introduced their own AI capabilities:
With AI services proliferating on rival phones from Huawei Technologies Co., Xiaomi Corp., Oppo Guangdong Mobile Telecommunications Corp., Vivo Mobile Communication Co. and others in China, it’s unclear how much Apple will benefit from launching a two-year-old set of relatively basic AI features in the country.
Interestingly, today’s report came just one day after Apple said in the footnotes of its HomeView announcement that it is “working constructively with the EU in an attempt to find a path forward” to launch Siri AI in Europe, where the assistant also remains unavailable due to regulatory issues.
To read Bloomberg‘s full report, follow this link.
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