IT Home, October 15: Apple's Executive Chairman Tim Cook confirmed today during an interview with The Paper, Jiemian News, and other media in Shanghai that Apple Intelligence, along with Alibaba's Qwen large model, has received approval and will be released in a test version to users in China later this month.
Cook said the initial features include real-time translation, writing tools, photo cleanup tools, and more, but Siri AI is not included in this release. “We’re thrilled that the first core Apple Intelligence features are now rolling out gradually,” Cook said.
IT Home previously reported that the approved Alibaba models include Qwen and Tongyi Wanxiang, with the former being a large language model and the latter an image and video generation tool.
Bloomberg's Gurman also reported that Apple plans to officially roll out Apple Intelligence to Chinese users in December with the iOS 17.3 system update, with the initial features largely consistent with the version first released overseas in 2024.
On the same day, Minister of Commerce Wang Wentao met with Cook, and both sides exchanged views on Sino-U.S. economic and trade relations, artificial intelligence development, and Apple’s business operations in China. Wang Wentao stated that China advocates safe, controllable, inclusive, and beneficial development of artificial intelligence, along with cooperative governance, and expressed hope that Apple will serve as a bridge for communication and contribute to the sustained and steady improvement of Sino-U.S. economic and trade relations. Cook stated that Apple is confident in China’s development prospects and will further expand its business in China.