Apple reportedly in talks with Tencent and ByteDance to provide AI features in China

Apple officially released its AI assistant feature ' Apple Intelligence ' on October 28, 2024. At the time of writing, Apple Intelligence only supports English, but it has been reported that Apple is in negotiations with Tencent and ByteDance to deploy AI functions in China.

Apple in talks with Tencent, ByteDance to roll out AI features in China, sources say | Reuters
https://www.reuters.com/technology/artificial-intelligence/apple-talks-with-tencent-bytedance-roll-out-ai-features-china-sources-say-2024-12-19/

Apple Intelligence is an AI feature available on iPhone, iPad, and Mac that allows users to use 'notification summaries,' 'sentence generation,' 'enhanced photo search,' 'enhanced Siri,' etc. Apple Intelligence is also integrated with ChatGPT, so you can have ChatGPT answer difficult questions for you.

ChatGPT can finally be used from Siri, with the integration of Apple Intelligence and ChatGPT - GIGAZINE

Apple has shown a willingness to collaborate with companies other than OpenAI, and shortly after the announcement of Apple Intelligence, it also expressed an interest in integrating with Google's Gemini.

Apple executives express intention to integrate Google's AI 'Gemini' into Apple products - GIGAZINE

According to information obtained by Reuters from sources, Apple is in talks with Chinese IT giant Tencent and TikTok operator ByteDance to deploy Apple Intelligence in China. The negotiations are said to be in the early stages, and the specifics of the negotiations have not been disclosed.

In China, ChatGPT's services are not available, and there areregulations that require government approval to make generative AI services available to the public . For these reasons, Apple is likely in negotiations with a Chinese company.

In addition, in March 2024, before the announcement of Apple Intelligence, there were reports that 'Apple is in discussions with Baidu about the use of AI.'

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

In addition, after the announcement of Apple Intelligence in June 2024, there were reports that Apple was in discussion with Baidu, Alibaba, and Baichuan AI, but no concrete announcements had been made at the time of writing. In addition, Apple Intelligence is building its own AI processing server called ' Private Cloud Compute (PCC) ' to protect user privacy, but when it is deployed in China, it may be necessary to use a Chinese company's server instead of PCC. In fact, it has been reported that Apple allowed the Chinese government to censor information when it launched iCloud in China.

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