Apple Intelligence Gets Green Light in China After Two-Year Wait

Apple's AI suite received regulatory approval from China's cyberspace regulator, ending a two-year wait. The company partnered with Alibaba and Baidu to comply with local censorship laws.

This article was drafted with AI assistance from multiple sources and was reviewed and approved by a human editor before publication.

Apple Intelligence, the company's generative AI platform unveiled roughly two years ago, has secured regulatory approval from China's cyberspace regulator. The approval was granted on July 15, 2026, according to a list published by China's Cyberspace Administration (CAC).

To meet local compliance requirements, Apple has teamed up with two major Chinese tech firms: Alibaba and Baidu. Alibaba's Qwen model will be integrated into Apple Intelligence on compatible iPhone, iPad, Mac, and Vision Pro devices sold in China. Baidu's specific contributions remain less defined, but a company spokesperson confirmed its involvement in developing features tailored for the Chinese version.

The AI features include tools for text composition, image generation, notification summarization, and custom emoji creation. However, Apple has not announced a release date for the service in China.

Apple had to modify Apple Intelligence to adhere to Chinese censorship rules on sensitive topics such as Taiwan, Tiananmen Square, and Xinjiang. This contrasts with OpenAI, whose services are not approved in China because the company refuses to comply with such censorship requirements.