Apple Intelligence approved to launch in China! Integrates Alibaba and Baidu large models, with the stock price surging to a new all-time high

Apple’s AI rollout sees a major breakthrough! According to Reuters, Apple’s on-device generative AI service, “Apple Intelligence,” has officially been approved for registration with China’s internet regulatory authority. To comply with local regulations, Apple will fully integrate AI models from Alibaba and Baidu. This good news boosted Apple’s US shares, surging nearly 3%, and the stock price once again hit a new all-time high, lifting partner companies Alibaba and Baidu as well.
(Background: Apple goes to war with OpenAI: 400 employees leave to fight an AI hardware war)
(Additional context: The “bigwigs spit and argue” saga—Musk fires shots at Altman: “You steal OpenAI first, then steal Apple,” and Altman fires back: “SpaceX just cuts up retail investors”)

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• Integrate Alibaba and Baidu to advance localized compliance
• On-device AI hits a breakthrough, driving Apple’s stock to new highs
• Rescue iPhone sales in China market and take on local brands

Apple (Apple) has taken a key step in its artificial intelligence (AI) strategy in the world’s largest smartphone market. On July 15, 2026, Beijing time, Reuters cited people familiar with the matter saying that Apple’s on-device generative AI service, “Apple Intelligence,” has already successfully passed registration and approval by China’s internet regulatory authority (CAC), clearing the final regulatory hurdle for the service’s official launch on the tens of millions of iPhone devices in China.

Integrate Alibaba and Baidu to advance localized compliance

Under China’s strict regulations, before any technology company can provide the public with large language model (LLM) and generative AI services, it must first obtain review and registration from the official regulators. To smoothly “clear the checkpoint,” Apple chose a strategy of partnering with local tech giants.

Alibaba has confirmed that its Qwen model will be deeply integrated into the China version of Apple Intelligence, providing full support for major operating systems including iPhone (iOS), iPad (iPadOS), Mac (macOS), and Vision Pro (visionOS). This means Chinese users will not need to keep switching back and forth between apps to directly experience native services such as text understanding, image recognition, and content generation at the system level. In addition, a Baidu spokesperson also confirmed to the media that it is working closely with Apple to jointly develop dedicated AI features for users in China.

On-device AI sees an explosion, driving Apple’s stock to record highs

Notably, today China’s Cyberspace Administration released registration information for seven “on-device” generative AI services for smartphones. Besides Apple Intelligence, the list also includes Huawei’s Xiaoyi large model, OPPO AndesGPT, vivo Lanxin large model, Xiaomi Pengpai AI, Samsung’s Galaxy AI, and Nubia’s Doubao large model under ZTE in collaboration with ByteDance. This marks the first time large-scale registration of on-device AI services has been completed in China for the mobile side, showing that the AI battleground is accelerating in shifting from the cloud to consumer end devices.

This major development quickly ignited excitement on Wall Street. During Wednesday’s US trading session, Apple’s stock surged nearly 3%, reaching a high of $325.4 during the day and once again setting a new record high. At the same time, expectations for domestic AI ecosystem integration warmed sharply, and partner stocks rose in sync: Alibaba’s US shares jumped more than 6.6%, while Baidu rose over 3.3%.

Rescue China market sales and take on local brands

For Apple, the successful launch of Apple Intelligence in China carries extremely high strategic significance. Over the past year, Apple’s China market has faced intense competition from local brands such as Huawei, and local consumers’ strong demand for AI features has been a potential pressure on sales.

However, with Apple’s recent second-quarter iPhone shipments in China growing at a strong year-over-year rate of 24.4%, it indicates that purchasing demand is showing signs of recovery. Combined with this AI service’s compliance “clearance” and the upcoming new device release cycle, the market widely believes this will become Apple’s strongest weapon to further consolidate its dominant position in China’s high-end smartphone market.