Apple Intelligence approved for China, Cook says in Shanghai

Apple Executive Chairman Tim Cook said in an interview on Thursday that Apple Intelligence has been approved for the Chinese market.

Cook revealed that a test version will be released later this month. The first batch of features will include real-time translation, writing tools and image cleanup, while the AI-powered Siri will not be included in the initial rollout.

The remarks came a day after China's Ministry of Industry and Information Technology published updated telecom equipment network access license records showing that Apple's first foldable phone, the iPhone Duo (China model A3721), completed a license renewal on Sept 29. The updated documents added a filing number for the large language model installed on the device.

A total of three large language models, including Apple Intelligence and Alibaba's Qwen, were newly filed this time, with filing numbers Shanghai-AppleZhiNeng-202506160057, Shanghai-TongYiWanXiang-202410090024 and ZheJiang-TongYiQianWen-20230901.

The completion of the large language model filings is seen as a key step for Apple in advancing AI features in the Chinese market.