Alibaba Shares Rise After China Approves Apple AI Powered by Qwen Model

Alibaba Group's U.S.-listed shares jumped after Chinese regulators officially cleared Apple’s on-device artificial intelligence system for release in the country. The long-awaited approval pairs the iPhone maker with Alibaba’s Qwen AI model, enabling the rollout of “Apple Intelligence” features to the world’s largest smartphone market.

Regulatory Approval and Partnership Details

The Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC) on Wednesday added Apple’s generative AI services to its list of newly approved providers, according to Investing.com. This places Apple alongside domestic technology firms such as Huawei Technologies and Xiaomi Corp., which have already received clearance for their AI products.

An Alibaba spokesperson confirmed that its Qwen AI will be available across iOS, iPadOS, and macOS for users in China. The model will power features including text and image recognition and generation, forming the backbone of Apple's localized AI suite.

Market Impact and Strategic Significance

The news prompted a positive market reaction, with Alibaba's shares rising around 5% in premarket U.S. trading, while Apple shares gained close to 1%.

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For Apple, the approval is a critical step in strengthening its position in the highly competitive Chinese market, where it has been working to close the gap with local rivals. For Alibaba, the partnership represents a major strategic victory, providing its Qwen AI model with a high-profile distribution channel to hundreds of millions of iPhone users and cementing its role in China's AI infrastructure.

Technical Context and Future Steps

The rollout of Apple Intelligence in China has been delayed for years, partly due to regulatory hurdles and the need to find a suitable local large language model partner. While Apple's global AI system is built on Google's Gemini models, that technology is not available in China.

According to a CNBC report, Apple is also exploring technology to make these powerful models run more efficiently on devices. The report stated Apple is in talks with PrismML, a Caltech spinout, about compression technology that could significantly shrink the size of Alibaba’s Qwen model to run entirely on an iPhone. Neither Apple nor Alibaba has provided a specific timeline for when the new AI features will become available to users.