China Approves Alibaba's Qwen for Apple Intelligence

China's Ministry of Industry has approved the Tongyi Qianwen (Qwen) language models and the Tongyi Wanxiang image and video generator, both from Alibaba, for use in Apple Intelligence, Apple's set of AI features. Apple actually got permission to launch Apple Intelligence in mainland China back in July, but it did not rush. Over the summer, it was confirmed that Qwen would power the feature there. The approval lands right before the iPhone Duo, Apple's new iPhone model, launches in China next week. Apple Intelligence has been running in the US for almost two years now. It never made it to mainland China, though it did arrive in Hong Kong earlier.

To operate in China, Apple cannot simply ship its own AI. It has to route the feature through a state-approved supplier instead. Any company building AI products for the Chinese market has to plan for that same dependence on a local vendor and a regulator.