Waiting for release

Alibaba to supply AI for Chinese iPhones

Apple is under great pressure to launch its artificial intelligence, known as "Apple Intelligence", on the Chinese market.(Bild: hanohiki - stock.adobe.com)

Apple is apparently working with Alibaba to develop AI functions for the important Chinese market. The two companies have submitted their software to the authorities for approval, wrote the news portal "The Information" on Tuesday.

Neither the iPhone provider nor the online retailer were initially available for comment.

Apple is under great pressure to bring its artificial intelligence, known as "Apple Intelligence", onto the market in the People's Republic. Among other things, this involves an improved version of the Siri voice assistant.

Chinese consumers are tech-savvy and the lack of AI functions is the main reason for the slump in iPhone sales. Alibaba is considered one of the leading AI developers in the People's Republic.

Basket for Baidu and DeepSeek
Apple initially selected Chinese Google rival Baidu as a partner, The Information continued. However, due to a lack of progress, the US company soon looked around for alternatives. In addition to Alibaba, the programs of video game provider Tencent and TikTok parent company ByteDance were also examined.

The AI from DeepSeek, which caused a worldwide sensation a few weeks ago, was also considered. However, from Apple's point of view, the start-up was too inexperienced and had too few employees to support a major customer such as the iPhone provider.