According to the Wall Street Journal, Apple is currently in talks with major Chinese companies such as Internet service provider Baidu and e-commerce company Alibaba Group to bring the benefits of artificial intelligence to Chinese customers.
Sales of Apple's iPhones are declining in the Chinese market for various reasons, including the lack of AI-based features. To address this challenge, the company is seeking partnerships with Chinese companies to facilitate the deployment of artificial intelligence-based technology, collectively known as “Apple Intelligence.”
Apple unveiled its new AI-based "Apple Intelligence" technology at its recent WWDC 2024 developer conference, and the company said the features will be available later this year, but initially only in English.
In addition to the strict legal regulations imposed by the Chinese government on artificial intelligence services and products, providing these functions in the Chinese language represents a major obstacle for the American company.
Apple is looking for Chinese partners to help it meet complex regulatory requirements, including requirements to host Chinese user data on local servers in the country.
Apple sought permission to use its Large Language Model (LLM) through a partnership with OpenAI, but Chinese authorities said Apple must use one of the AI models approved by a local Chinese company.
In addition to these regulatory hurdles, Apple faces other challenges in the Chinese market, including the competitive advantages enjoyed by Chinese smartphone manufacturers, which are said to be supported by the government.
Huawei recently announced its new operating system, HarmonyOS NEXT. The company's new operating system includes new features based on artificial intelligence, which Huawei calls “Harmony Intelligence.”
Apple is working to build local partnerships and obtain the necessary regulatory approvals in time to integrate at least some artificial intelligence features into the iPhone 16 phones scheduled to be launched next September.