Cook says Apple Intelligence approved in China; late-October beta excludes new Siri AI
China Daily reports Tim Cook said on October 15, 2026 in Shanghai that Apple Intelligence is approved in China, with a late-October test build including live translation, Writing Tools, and image cleanup but not the new Siri AI. Associated Alibaba Qwen models are also described as approved; Alibaba/Baidu role splits cited by sources are not line-by-line Apple confirmations.
China Daily reported on October 15, 2026 that Apple Executive Chairman Tim Cook said in a Shanghai interview that Apple Intelligence has been approved for China and that a test version will arrive later this month. He said the first batch includes live/real-time translation, writing tools, and image cleanup, while AI-powered Siri is not in the initial rollout.
The same report says updated MIIT telecom network-access records show Apple’s foldable iPhone Duo (China model A3721) completed a license renewal on September 29 with new large-model filing numbers, including Apple Intelligence and Alibaba Tongyi-related models (Shanghai-AppleZhiNeng-202506160057, Shanghai-TongYiWanXiang-202410090024, ZheJiang-TongYiQianWen-20230901). Qbitai’s relay likewise quotes Cook saying Apple Intelligence and related Alibaba Qwen models have been approved.
A separate China Daily piece, citing people familiar with the matter, says Alibaba will supply model capabilities for text/image understanding and generation across China iPhone, iPad, Mac, and Vision Pro software, while Baidu will support search and functions tied to Siri and Visual Intelligence—distinct from the redesigned Siri AI Cook excluded from this test. Those vendor roles are anonymous-source reporting; Cook’s confirmed points are approval and the first-feature set, not a published contract map.
Sources
- Apple Intelligence approved for China, Cook says in Shanghai — China Daily
- Alibaba, Baidu to power key parts of Apple's China AI services — China Daily
- 库克：苹果智能接入阿里千问大模型，10月底在中国发布测试版本 — 量子位