Apple has partnered with Alibaba, as reported earlier today, to enable Apple Intelligence on iPhones in China. Apple partnered with Chinese companies to process AI because of the country’s strict artificial intelligence regulations. A new report by Bloomberg explains how Apple Intelligence works in China.
Apple Intelligence in China (19659004) In China, local laws require that data be processed on Chinese servers rather than being sent to servers in other countries.
Before today’s confirmation there were rumors that Apple was negotiating with Alibaba or Baidu to power Apple Intelligence in China. Mark Gurman claims that Apple has teamed with both companies to enable Apple Intelligence features for Chinese users.
Alibaba’s partnership with Apple aims to create a system on the device that will analyze and modify Apple AI models for iOS or macOS. This system will filter the AI output and censor it to ensure that the Chinese government’s demands are met. Sources claim that the Chinese government can request changes to AI models via Alibaba when it wants to change the information provided to users. Apple devices will be capable of detecting when they are running an outdated AI model, and will disable Apple Intelligence automatically until new models have been downloaded. This will be done automatically and without the user noticing.
Baidu will, on the contrary, power features like Visual Intelligence, which currently relies upon Google and OpenAI. It is also likely to replace the ChatGPT Integration in Siri.
Apple Intelligence requests that are more complex are processed online by what Apple calls Private Cloud Compute. Apple in China may process these requests using servers operated by GCBD, a state-owned company that operates iCloud.
Apple has already confirmed that it will expand Apple Intelligence support to more languages for the first time with iOS 18.4. Among the new languages supported will be Chinese, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Portuguese, Spanish, and Vietnamese. Even so, the report says that Apple may wait until May to enable Apple Intelligence for users in China.
It’s worth noting that this censorship system will only apply to devices sold in China. iPhones, iPadsand Even if Macs are brought into China, they won’t be able to use the local AI system.
Apple is expected to release the first beta version of iOS 18.4 to developers next week.
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