Apple and its rivals in the Chinese smartphone market are in a heated race to adopt the country’s fast-improving artificial intelligence (AI) models, including those from DeepSeek and Alibaba Group Holding.
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The iPhone maker struck a deal to use Alibaba’s Qwen models for Apple Intelligence in mainland China, the South China Morning Post reported on Tuesday, citing sources. Apple Intelligence is supported by OpenAI’s ChatGPT in most international markets, but in China, only AI models approved by the government can be used.
It was an “extreme honour” for Alibaba to collaborate with Apple, co-founder and chairman Joe Tsai said on Thursday at the World Government Summit in Dubai, confirming the partnership. Alibaba owns the South China Morning Post.
The agreement concluded Apple’s months-long search for a local partner in China to launch its on-device AI function, while domestic rivals had already introduced competing features. The recent arrival of DeepSeek’s new models has spurred a new wave of AI upgrades among Chinese handset brands.
Huawei Technologies said earlier this month that it was using DeepSeek-R1 model to support Xiaoyi, the AI assistant in the latest version of its home-grown mobile operating system, HarmonyOS Next.
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On Saturday, Oppo said it was integrating R1 into its new foldable phone Find N5, while Honor announced it was using the model to upgrade its AI agent Yoyo. Vivo, China’s largest smartphone maker by shipments last year, said last week its smartphone assistant app would incorporate functions backed by R1, such as text creation.