Apple is reportedly taking a new route to bring artificial intelligence features to customers in China: training a large language model of its own with help from Alibaba.
Reuters reports that three sources described the China-specific model as a departure from Apple’s strategy of relying on third-party models.
Alibaba reportedly supported the model’s training, though neither company commented.
Models including ChatGPT and Claude are unavailable in mainland China, making Apple’s strategy there different from its approach in other major markets for now.
The development follows Alibaba confirming its Apple partnership in February 2025. More recently, China’s internet regulator registered Apple Intelligence for use on iPhones.
