An Apple store in Shanghai Photo: VCG

Apple Intelligence has been formally integrated with Alibaba's Qwen model on macOS, according to Apple's Chinese website on Saturday, enabling voice assistant and text-generation functions and marking a significant step forward in the rollout of Apple's AI services in the Chinese market.

Users need to configure the feature in system settings and log in to a Qwen account before it can be used, the website shows. Once set up, they can generate text through Writing Tools and use Siri to obtain answers from Qwen.

Users control when Qwen is used and are asked before any information is shared, according to the website. They can also choose to let Siri send requests to Qwen automatically without asking. Alibaba cannot use these requests to improve or train its models, the website says.

On July 15, China's cyberspace regulator published its latest registration list for generative AI services, under which seven on-device generative AI services for mobile phones, including "Apple Intelligence," completed registration. The filing lists Apple Technology Development (Shanghai) Co as the registrant for "Apple Intelligence," according to the official WeChat account of Cyberspace Administration of China. 

Alibaba's Qwen model would be integrated into Apple Intelligence across Apple's iPhone (iOS), iPad (iPadOS), Mac (macOS) and Vision Pro (visionOS) operating systems in China, Reuters reported in July.

As of press time, the Global Times found no corresponding information on Apple's web pages for iOS, iPadOS and visionOS devices such as the iPhone, iPad and Apple Vision Pro indicating that Apple Intelligence there supports Qwen.

Alibaba is not Apple's only AI partner in China, however.

Apple will also work with Baidu, with the two sides focusing on developing AI search capabilities, the National Business Daily reported, citing a person familiar with the matter. Those capabilities form part of the Apple Intelligence feature set and, beyond supporting image and text processing, will be used to upgrade the Chinese version of Siri.

Apple reported revenue of $109.4 billion for its fiscal third quarter which ended June 27, up by 16 percent. Revenue in the Chinese mainland, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macao rose by 22 percent to reach $18.816 billion. CEO Tim Cook told CNBC that the iPhone set a June-quarter record in the Greater China region and the Mac its best quarter ever there.

Global Times