Apple and Samsung pivot to Chinese-friendly AI strategy for crucial market share. Apple and Samsung, two of the biggest tech companies in the world, are finding partners in the local Chinese companies to provide AI capabilities for their respective AI systems in China. The smartphone world leaders can now provide capable generative AI to those who need localized models by law. That means, Chinese users in mainland China can now expect AI capabilities based on local apps and services – not global models.
Apple and Samsung adopt local AI models to comply with Chinese generative AI laws
Apple is now in a strategic partnership with Alibaba group to enable Apple Intelligence for mainland China users. It will rely on Qwen model from Alibaba group for server-side text generation, visual context querying, and elaborate Siri processing. Apple's foundation model will continue taking care of on-device processes such as simple photo editing or translation. It is already available to test for the latest iOS developer beta.
Samsung has been in a partnership with Baidu for Galaxy S24 series and above for the Ernie model to provide Galaxy AI features in China. That partnership extended to even future models like Galaxy S26 series and beyond. These partnerships are to help both companies abide by Chinese regulations on generative AI services. Interconnecting with local platforms like Alipay, Taobao, Baidu maps and more can make it much more useful from a contextual perspective that global models can't in the region.
Apple intends to publicly release the Alibaba integration with iOS 27.3 in December. This way, Apple can provide a more local-friendly experience that integrates with their local digital ecosystem. Samsung with its long-time partner Baidu can continue providing AI for their recent flagship smartphones. These are strategies that highlight the need for regional compliance in the global smartphone market.
We have been closely monitoring Apple Intelligence and Galaxy AI, you can check our previous updates on Samsung Galaxy S26 FE Launch Date. Apple and Samsung are focusing on their local partnerships to make their AI features more readily available and useful in China. They are balancing global technology with localized needs that are more specific to their region in terms of regulations and culture.
Source: GIZMOCHINA
Apple outsourcing Siri logic to Alibaba is a massive privacy compromise. Users in mainland China get a localized model, but data routing through Chinese servers changes the trust equation entirely.
Does this mean Siri on iOS 27.3 will only work inside China, or will the Alibaba backend be accessible globally too? I am worried about my own data privacy if the backend switches mid-cycle.
The report specifies server-side text generation for mainland China only. On-device foundation models handle simple tasks like translation locally. The Alibaba integration is a regional compliance patch, not a global backend swap.