On Thursday, Alibaba Group Chair Joe Tsai confirmed at the World Governments Summit in Dubai that the company partnered with Apple to develop AI for iPhones in the Chinese market.
Tsai mentioned that after discussions with various Chinese companies, Apple decided to partner with Alibaba to integrate their AI technology into their phones.
The partnership was first reported on Tuesday by tech news outlet The Information, propelling both companies’ shares.
On Thursday, Alibaba’s shares listed in Hong Kong soared to their highest intraday level since 2022, before trimming gains and settling with a 2.5% increase.
Following this development, the official announcement could clarify Apple’s AI strategy in China, which would help bolster its competitiveness and maintain market share in the world’s largest smartphone market.
Chinese rivals like Huawei have boasted AI features on their phones since last year. Meanwhile, Apple remained quiet on its Apple Intelligence push in the market, despite plans for a U.S. launch this fall.
Apple Intelligence represents Apple’s plan to integrate AI across its devices, featuring an improved version of Siri voice assistant, automatic email organizer, and audio transcribe and summarizer.
According to analysts in a CNBC report, Apple’s efforts to introduce AI in China have likely encountered delays due to the country’s strict regulations on the technology.
In recent years, China has enacted several regulations on AI, some of which require large language models to receive government approval for commercial use. Providers of generative AI are also responsible for taking down banned content.
However, the Alibaba partnership will help Apple navigate the government regulation and localize its AI, said Tsai.
In addition, Apple also announced on Wednesday that its Apple TV+ application is now available on Android, marking another significant move for the tech giant.
