Apple Partners with Alibaba to Run Qwen-Powered AI in China

Apple has formally announced a partnership with Alibaba to enable Apple Intelligence on iPhones in China by integrating Alibaba’s flagship large language model, Qwen. After a two-year delay, Apple plans to make the first suite of Apple Intelligence services available in the month of Azar, concurrently with the release of iOS 27.3. Apple will rely on Qwen to provide the necessary local infrastructure and to align the features with China's regulatory requirements for generative AI.

How the integration will work and why it matters

The integration routes certain Siri requests for text generation, image creation, and photo or document analysis to Qwen. In practice, Alibaba's model serves as a local back end that Apple can use to deliver these generative features while meeting Chinese rules for AI services. Azar is the ninth month of the Iranian calendar, roughly corresponding to late November through December, and Apple ties the rollout to the iOS 27.3 update.

Eddie Wu Yongming, chief executive officer of Alibaba, said, "We are pleased to work with Apple." He added that Qwen, built on Alibaba's AI technologies, will be deeply integrated into Apple's ecosystem to create new intelligent experiences for Chinese users of Apple products.

Apple's choice of Alibaba reflects both a technical and regulatory calculation. The company needed a partner that offers a mature, high-capability AI model and can operate within China's oversight framework for generative AI. Alibaba meets both conditions and, through Qwen, provides the local generative services layer that Apple requires to deliver Apple Intelligence in its second-largest market.