Jun 21, 2024 14:00:00

Apple is in talks with Baidu, Alibaba, Baichuan AI, and others to provide Apple Intelligence in China, where ChatGPT is not available, but is facing difficulties

In June 2024, Apple announced '

Apple Intelligence ,' which will include various AI-driven features in iOS, iPadOS, and macOS. As part of this Apple Intelligence, Apple has announced that it will integrate ChatGPT across Apple platforms. However, access to ChatGPT is prohibited in China, one of Apple's major markets. Therefore, Apple is reportedly looking for a local partner to provide Apple Intelligence in China.

For Apple's AI Push, China Is a Missing Piece - WSJ
https://www.wsj.com/tech/ai/for-apples-ai-push-china-is-a-missing-piece-7d2b0ec6

Apple Intelligence plans in China remain unclear due to legal concerns - 9to5Mac
https://9to5mac.com/2024/06/20/apple-intelligence-china/

Apple has announced that it will integrate ChatGPT and GPT-4o into Apple Intelligence. However, ChatGPT is banned in China, Apple's major market, so Apple needs to prepare an alternative model to ChatGPT in order to release Apple Intelligence in China.

It has been reported that Apple has been in discussions with China's Baidu for some time now to explore whether Baidu's language model and chatbot AI could be used in Apple Intelligence.

Apple is in talks with China's Baidu about 'using generative AI technology' - GIGAZINE

Chinese companies have already launched smartphone services incorporating AI functions in China ahead of Apple Intelligence, and the iPhone has fallen to third place in market share in smartphone sales in the first quarter of 2024 (January to March).

According to the Wall Street Journal, Apple has explored the possibility of getting approval to use large-scale language models outside of China on its devices in early 2024, but has found that Chinese regulators are unlikely to approve it.

For this reason, Apple is said to be in discussions not only with Baidu, but also with several companies developing AI models in China, including Alibaba Group, a major Chinese IT company, and Baichuan AI, a Beijing-based emerging AI company.

However, at the time of writing, the company has not yet decided on a partner company in China. 9to5Mac, an Apple-related news site, points out that the difficulty is due to the uncertainty of whether private cloud computing can be operated in China.

The use of generative AI is heavily regulated in China, and any AI used in the country must be approved by Chinese regulators, with the approved list featuring only services operated by Chinese companies.

Apple offers the cloud service iCloud, but Chinese law only allows Chinese government-affiliated companies to store and process cloud data, so Apple was forced to partner with a Chinese government-affiliated company to release iCloud in China.

Apple Intelligence uses ' Private Cloud Compute (PCC),' which processes data on servers built by Apple. 9to5mac points out that if Apple were to take the same approach as iCloud with Apple Intelligence, it would likely be required to use Chinese cloud servers instead of PCC, raising privacy concerns.

The Baidu AI, which Apple is in discussion with, is also used in Samsung's Galaxy S24, but according to the Wall Street Journal, Chinese users have been unhappy with Baidu's AI performance: When comparing Google's AI with Baidu's AI on the Galaxy S24, some users said that Google's AI could identify car models and buildings from photos, but Baidu's AI could not.