Reuters, citing three sources, reported that Apple trained its own language model specifically for the Chinese market. This represents a significant shift in strategy—previously, the company relied exclusively on third-party partner models for AI features in China. The model was developed in partnership with Alibaba Group and trained with support from the Chinese tech giant. Sources requested anonymity, citing the sensitive nature of the information, which has not yet been made public.
Under the agreement, Alibaba’s Qwen model will be integrated into the version of Apple Intelligence that ships with compatible iPhone, iPad, Mac, and Vision Pro devices in China. Earlier, in July, Reuters also reported that the service would receive technology from Baidu. A week ago, Apple published a Chinese-language guide for Mac users in mainland China explaining how to connect Qwen to Siri and Writing Tools features.
The partnership with Alibaba was first confirmed in February 2025, when Alibaba CEO Joe Tsai announced at the World Governments Summit in Dubai that Apple would conduct business with Alibaba among several Chinese candidates. The launch was delayed while Apple adapted features to comply with local regulations. The market is critical for the company—China accounts for a significant share of total revenue, and the absence of AI features on Chinese iPhones was cited as one factor pressuring sales as buyers switched to local brands like Huawei with built-in assistants.
Developing its own trained model gives Apple greater control over how the AI experience works in its most competitive foreign market. It also makes Apple the first foreign company officially approved by Beijing to offer its own proprietary AI model in the country—a rare instance of collaboration between American and Chinese tech companies amid deepening trade and diplomatic tensions over artificial intelligence.
Will Apple Intelligence Launch in Ukraine?
There is no direct connection between the Chinese rollout and the Ukrainian one. The situation in China is unique and driven purely by local reasons—regulatory bans on foreign models like ChatGPT and Claude within the country. This is why Apple is building a separate track with Alibaba and Baidu—in other regions, including Ukraine, there is no such regulatory barrier, and Apple Intelligence there relies on Apple’s own technology paired with OpenAI’s ChatGPT.
The real reason Apple Intelligence hasn’t yet worked fully in Ukrainian is different—the company is expanding language support gradually, region by region, and Ukrainian has not yet been included in the initial rollout waves. The Chinese case demonstrates Apple’s broader approach to localizing AI for specific markets rather than indicating a timeline for Ukraine.
Why Siri Still Lags Behind ChatGPT
The gap between Siri and ChatGPT or Gemini exists for reasons independent of any specific region. Apple spent considerable time developing an updated version of Siri with deeper generative AI integration, and this process is technically more complex than simply plugging in an external ready-made model—Apple aims to maintain the privacy standards and on-device processing that set the standard for its other products, and this limits the speed at which assistant capabilities can be expanded.
The Chinese precedent with Alibaba shows that when circumstances demand it, Apple is capable of quickly negotiating deep integration of third-party AI. For the rest of the world, including Ukraine, the main plan remains the same—Apple’s own Apple Intelligence paired with ChatGPT, and the pace of new languages and features depends on Apple’s internal timeline rather than individual regional deals like the Chinese one.