Apple Prepares to Debut Apple Intelligence in China in December

Apple is preparing to release its Apple Intelligence on-device AI service in mainland China in December, ending a lengthy wait caused by regulatory hurdles, Bloomberg reported Thursday.

The planned release of Apple Intelligence in China, one of the iPhone-maker’s most important markets, comes two years after the company first launched the service in most other countries including the U.S. Apple has had to grapple with Chinese approval processes and mandated collaborations with local companies before it can roll out any AI features.

In July, China’s internet regulator greenlit Apple’s AI service, along with other similar on-device AI services from Chinese smartphone makers, under the country’s generative AI rules.

Apple Intelligence in China will come with guardrails the company developed with Alibaba Group, such as a filter that allows the Chinese government to approve updates to the AI models, according to Bloomberg.

Due to local regulations, the Chinese version of Apple Intelligence will also exclude the new Siri AI powered by Google’s Gemini models, as well as Apple’s in-house image-generation tools such as Image Playground.