Tencent & ByteDance may be Apple Intelligence launch partners in China
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Apple Intelligence has a long way to go before launching in China. Apple is reportedly in talks with ByteDance and Tencent to integrate their AI models with Apple Intelligence in China, so it can expand the feature set to the lucrative market. Apple is slowly rolling out Apple Intelligence to iPhone, iPad, and Mac, by gradually introducing it into new markets. However, to do so in China, it's seeking assistance from other companies.
Apple is said to be in discussions with Tencent and ByteDance, the owner of TikTok, about Apple Intelligence. Reuters reports on Thursday that Apple wants to use AI models from the two companies to flesh out the version of Apple Intelligence offered to users in China.
Sources say the talks are at an early stage and are not publicly known about. None of the three companies responded to the report's request for comment. Apple's problem is that it has to abide by the regulatory restrictions in place in China, as with other countries around the world. The Chinese government has to authorize AI providers to offer services to consumers, and Apple hasn't received that approval for Apple Intelligence functions.
To work around the regulations, Apple intends to use a move that it has done before: partner with a company in China who is already approved to operate there. Models such as Google's Gemini and OpenAI's ChatGPT are not authorized in China, so Apple cannot use them. Instead, it has to tap local tech companies.
Its first attempt is with Baidu, the equivalent of China's Google, ran into problems, according to reports from December 4. Baidu already performs searches for iPhone users in the country, which made a tie-up a natural progression in the business relationship.
