In a significant development, Alibaba has announced a partnership with Apple to provide artificial intelligence (AI) features to iPhones in China. This move is expected to boost Apple's declining smartphone sales in the region, which have been attributed to the lack of AI features in iPhones sold in China.

According to Alibaba chairman Joseph Tsai, Apple evaluated models from several local tech companies, including Tencent, ByteDance, and DeepSeek, before choosing to partner with Alibaba. "They talked to a number of companies in China. In the end, they chose to do business with us. They want to use our AI to power their phones," Tsai said.

The partnership is significant, as Apple Intelligence features have not been enabled in China, a major market for the tech giant. Outside of China, Apple Intelligence runs on a combination of Apple's proprietary technology and OpenAI's ChatGPT, which is not available in China. It is unclear whether Apple will adopt a similar approach for AI features in China, potentially partnering with multiple companies.

The announcement does not entirely end speculation about which local tech companies Apple will partner with to enable its AI features. According to a report from The Information, Apple "continues to work with Baidu" on "an AI-powered search feature that can handle images and text," along with upgrades to the Chinese version of Siri.

Any consumer-facing AI features will require regulatory approval, and Apple and Alibaba have already submitted materials to regulators. The partnership is seen as a crucial step for Apple to regain its footing in the Chinese market, where it lost the top spot for smartphone sales in 2024, coming in third behind Huawei and Xiaomi.

Analysts have repeatedly attributed Apple's lagging sales in China to the lack of iPhone AI features in the country. With this partnership, Apple is under pressure to make up lost ground and regain its market share in the region.

The implications of this partnership extend beyond Apple's sales figures, as it marks a significant shift in the tech giant's approach to AI in China. The partnership also highlights Alibaba's growing influence in the AI space, as the company continues to expand its presence in the market.

As the tech industry continues to evolve, partnerships like this one will play a crucial role in shaping the future of AI development and deployment. With Apple and Alibaba working together, the possibilities for innovation and growth in the Chinese market are vast, and it will be interesting to see how this partnership unfolds in the coming months.