Apple and Alibaba reportedly launch new AI features for iPhones sold in China

Apple is reportedly collaborating with Chinese tech company Alibaba to roll out new AI features for iPhones sold in China, following the launch of Chinese AI app DeepSeek. 

The partnership aligns with Apple’s strategy to establish a local AI partner to improve iPhone functionality in China, the world’s largest smartphone market, where the lack of Apple Intelligence has created a competitive disadvantage.  

According to The Information, the AI services developed through this partnership have been submitted to China’s Cyberspace Administration for approval. However, Alibaba was not the original choice. Initially, Apple had intended to work with Baidu but later determined that Baidu's AI models didn’t fully meet its requirements, said the report. 

The company allegedly explored AI solutions from other Chinese developers, including eCommerce giant Tencent and TikTok owner ByteDance.  
Apple also considered partnering with DeepSeek before its disruptive entry into the US market. However, the report stated that Apple ultimately dismissed DeepSeek as a candidate due to its lack of sufficient workforce and experience to manage a deal of this magnitude. 

Most recently, Alibaba unveiled a new version of its Qwen 2.5 AI model that claimed to surpass the DeepSeek-V3. "Qwen 2.5-Max outperforms[...]almost across the board GPT-4o, DeepSeek-V3 and Llama-3.1-405B," Alibaba's cloud unit said in a statement on its official WeChat account, referring to OpenAI and Meta's most advanced open-source AI models. 

Don't miss: DeepSeek for dummies: 101 on how marketers can capitalise on the trend

In fact, back in January, the sudden popularity of DeepSeek has shaken up the world of AI, with some industry players comparing it with its rival OpenAI’s ChatGPT and questioning if it would threaten the dominance of AI leaders such as Nvidia - which has already taken a hit on its stock. 
 
The new app topped the downloads list on Apple’s App Store, taking over ChatGPT since its release, and has drawn mixed reactions across social platforms. Media intelligence firm CARMA saw a total of two million mentions regarding Deepseek globally over the past two days, with sentiments of conversations being 29.3% positive and 21.8% negative.

Alibaba has no immediate response to the matter. MARKETING-INTERACTIVE has reached out to Apple for a statement.

Related articles:

Alibaba launches 'A100' to boost company's digital transformation
Starbucks launches first virtual store on Alibaba's e-commerce platforms in China