If your smartphone assistant helped you rewrite that awkward work email, enhance your blurry cat photo, or even generate a sentimental anniversary video today — congratulations, you’re already living in the age of AI.
From Samsung’s Galaxy AI to Huawei’s Pangu AI (盘古AI) and Xiaomi’s Xiaoai (小爱同学), almost every major smartphone brand in China has proudly armed itself with a flashy AI assistant.
All except one — Apple China, which until now, has stood awkwardly in the corner at the AI party in China.
Rumors of Apple teaming up with Baidu AI, Tencent, and even rising AI star DeepSeek all swirled through tech circles like gossip at a family dinner, but it seems Apple had commitment issues.
Instead, Alibaba has officially secured the gig as Apple Intelligence partner in the Chinese mainland.
The confirmation came directly from Joe Tsai, chairman of Alibaba, during the World Governments Summit 2025 in Dubai, who stated that Apple has chosen Alibaba to power its China-specific Apple Intelligence functions.
Apple’s China Dilemma
Let’s be honest, Apple has been having a rough time in China.
In 2023, Apple’s sales in China dipped 2.2%
In 2024, the drop accelerated to 7.7%, with a particularly painful 11% decline in the final quarter alone
Meanwhile, Chinese brands like Huawei were making headlines for all the right reasons.
Huawei’s Mate 60 series, featuring Pangu AI, wasn’t just a pretty face — it had real, functional AI capabilities, including real-time image repair and automated meeting summaries that perfectly targeted China’s business crowd.
Even budget-friendly phones from Xiaomi, OPPO, and vivo started rolling out AI photography, AI writing and smart office tools to devices costing a fraction of the iPhone.
As for Apple?
The iPhone 16 series launched in China without Apple Intelligence, earned the not-so-flattering nickname: “The flagship with no AI.”
READ MORE: Apple China Offers Rare Discounts Up to ¥800
Why Not DeepSeek?
Huawei, HONOR, OPPO, and vivo all tapping into its powerful capabilities to enhance their devices. Image by That's
If you’re thinking, “Wait, why not partner with DeepSeek? It’s the hottest Chinese AI right now,” you’re not alone.
DeepSeek is indeed the darling of Chinese AI at the moment, with Huawei, HONOR, OPPO, and vivo all tapping into its powerful capabilities to enhance their devices.
Well, Apple’s reasoning was surprisingly blunt — DeepSeek’s core team is only around 300 people, and Apple reportedly felt this small team couldn’t support the massive scale required to serve China’s millions of iPhone users.
In short: Big Apple needs Big Backup.
READ MORE: What is DeepSeek? Here's All You Need to Know...
Why Alibaba Makes Sense
Alibaba holds possibly the biggest data on millions of Chinese consumers. Image via Tmall
If Apple was looking for a data goldmine, Alibaba fits the bill perfectly.
Through Alibaba's e-commerce empire (Alibaba International, Taobao, Tmall) and Alipay, Alibaba holds data on over 800 million Chinese consumers.
That includes:
Shopping habits
Payment patterns
Geolocation data
Over 5,000 unique behavioral tags
This treasure trove of consumer insights allows Alibaba to train AI models with laser-focused precision, giving Apple an AI partner with both technical muscle and deep local expertise.
There’s also the money factor.
In February 2025, Alibaba’s CEO announced a jaw-dropping RMB380 billion investment (that’s over USD52 billion) in AI and cloud computing over the next three years — an amount that dwarfs its entire investment in these areas over the past decade combined.
What Will Apple Intelligence Look Like in China?
Those lucky enough to have played with Apple Intelligence on devices in other markets will have already seen the OpenAI-powered enhancements:
Siri can now delegate complex tasks to ChatGPT
Writing tools on drafting emails, generating summaries, or polishing documents
Camera enhancements with AI-powered scene detection and creative suggestions to make your photos pop
Apple Intelligence heavily relies on ChatGPT for complex tasks. Screenshot by That's
In China, it’s likely Apple will adopt a similar structure, only replacing OpenAI’s ChatGPT with Alibaba’s AI models.
Siri, for example, could lean on Alibaba’s Tongyi and Qwen AI for help with text generation, summaries, and recommendations; all localized to better fit Chinese culture, language quirks, and regulations.
Whatever form Apple Intelligence 'China Edition' takes, we won’t have to wait long to find out.
The next major iOS update in April 2025 is expected to officially roll out these features to Chinese iPhones, marking the first time Apple users in the Chinese mainland will get their hands on AI features tailored for China.
What Do You Think?
Of course, the real question is: Do Apple users in China actually want Alibaba running their iPhone’s AI?
Help us find out.
POLL: Your Preferred AI for Apple China’s Apple Intelligence
Baidu AI: 文小言
DeepSeek
Alibaba AI: Tongyi and Qwen
Tencent AI: 腾讯元宝
ByteDance AI: 豆包
I’m not going to use Apple Intelligence
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[Cover image via Screenshot by That's]
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