According to sources familiar with the matter as reported by Reuters, Apple is reportedly in early discussions with Chinese tech giants Tencent and ByteDance to integrate their artificial intelligence models into iPhones sold within the Chinese market.
This move comes as Apple recently began rolling out OpenAI’s ChatGPT into its devices globally, enhancing its Siri voice assistant with advanced chatbot capabilities for tasks like handling photo and document queries.
However, due to China’s stringent regulations requiring government approval for generative AI technologies, Apple is unable to deploy ChatGPT directly in the Chinese market, necessitating the US tech giant for local AI partners.
Partnering with Apple for its AI services in China could be a significant boon for any company in the nation’s rapidly expanding AI sector, where numerous large language models have been introduced by established tech firms and startups. Notable players in this competitive space include ByteDance’s Doubao, Tencent’s Hunyuan, and Baidu’s Ernie.
Apple’s efforts to introduce AI-enhanced iPhones in China are critical as it grapples with a shrinking market share, exacerbated by stiff competition from domestic manufacturers like Huawei, who have re-entered the high-end market with a locally produced chip in August and launched its Mate 70 series with AI-driven features in November.
In the second quarter, Apple temporarily dropped out of China’s top five smartphone vendors but managed to regain its position in the third quarter. Despite this recovery, Apple’s smartphone sales in China dipped by 0.3% year-over-year in the third quarter, contrasted by a remarkable 42% increase in sales for Huawei, as reported by research firm IDC.
