- Alibaba shares rose nearly 6% in premarket after Qwen AI integration with Apple in China
- China's Cyberspace Administration approved Apple's AI services for launch in the country
- Qwen AI will be integrated across iOS, iPadOS, macOS, and visionOS for Chinese users
Alibaba Group Holding's US-listed shares climbed nearly 6% in premarket trading on Wednesday after the company confirmed that its Qwen artificial intelligence model will be integrated into Apple Intelligence across Apple devices in China.
The development comes after China's Cyberspace Administration approved Apple's AI services for rollout in the country, paving the way for the launch of Apple Intelligence in the Chinese market.
Alibaba said Qwen will be integrated into Apple Intelligence across iOS, iPadOS, macOS and visionOS, enabling users in China to access advanced AI capabilities, including text and image understanding and generation, directly within Apple's ecosystem.
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The development marks a significant milestone for Apple, which has been working to secure approval for its AI services in China since unveiling Apple Intelligence in 2024.
The partnership also underscores Alibaba's growing prominence in the global AI race, even as geopolitical tensions between the US and China continue to reshape the technology landscape.
Alibaba's American depositary receipts (ADRs) were trading 5.78% higher at $118.81 apiece at 1:20 pm EST, following the announcement.
The integration comes at a time when scrutiny over Chinese AI models has intensified.
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Earlier this month, Alibaba restricted employees from using Anthropic's AI tools, while US policymakers continue to examine the increasing adoption of Chinese AI technologies by American companies.
The announcement also coincides with fresh advances aimed at bringing powerful AI models to smartphones.
US-based startup PrismML recently unveiled a compressed version of Alibaba's open-source Qwen model, reducing its size from around 54 GB to under 4 GB.
The optimisation allows the 27-billion-parameter model to run directly on an iPhone 15 or newer, potentially paving the way for faster on-device AI experiences without relying heavily on cloud computing.
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