By Tim Hardwick
Apple is facing a hurdle in its attempt to launch Apple Intelligence in China, with regulators warning that foreign companies face a “complicated and lengthy approval process” unless they partner with local firms, according to a new report in the Financial Times.
A senior official at the Cyberspace Administration of China told the FT that foreign device makers would find a “simple and straightforward approval process” if they used already-approved large language models (LLMs) from Chinese companies, rather than trying to roll out their own AI systems.
The regulatory situation has reportedly prompted Apple to enter into talks with several Chinese tech companies, including search giant Baidu, ByteDance and AI startup Moonshot, about potentially implementing Apple Intelligence features in devices sold in mainland China.
Apple CEO Tim Cook arrived in China on Monday to attend a CEO summit with Chinese Premier Li Qiang, in what may be an attempt by Cook to personally navigate the complex regulatory environment. During his previous visit to Beijing, Cook acknowledged the special regulatory requirements, saying Apple is “working hard” to bring Apple Intelligence to Chinese consumers.
The company has been gradually rolling out Apple Intelligence features in the U.S. and other countries since October, including things like Writing Tools and an improved Siri that uses a combination of on-device processing and Private Cloud Compute servers, as well as OpenAI’s ChatGPT for more complex queries. But if Apple can’t get its own AI models approved in China, it may have to rely on Chinese LLM partners to put AI features on devices sold there.
Regulatory uncertainty could delay the launch of Apple Intelligence in China until the “second half of 2025” or later, unless Apple takes a flexible approach that includes multiple Chinese partnerships to speed up approval, according to JP Morgan analyst Samik Chatterjee.
China accounts for 17% of the company’s revenue, but sales there have fallen 8% over the past year. The company faces growing competition from Huawei, which has already integrated its own AI features into its latest smartphones.
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