Apple is reportedly in discussions with Chinese tech giants Tencent and ByteDance to integrate their artificial intelligence models into iPhones sold in China, Reuters reported.
The talks come as Apple began rolling out OpenAI’s ChatGPT capabilities into its devices globally this month, leveraging the AI chatbot through its Siri voice assistant for tasks like answering queries and managing documents. However, due to regulatory restrictions, ChatGPT is unavailable in China, where generative AI services must secure government approval before public use.
The U.S. tech giant is seeking local partnerships for its AI features to maintain relevance in the competitive Chinese market, where its market share has been declining. Discussions with Tencent and ByteDance are still in the early stages, said the sources, who requested anonymity as the talks are not public.
A successful partnership could position Apple’s AI services in China’s crowded AI ecosystem, which has seen the launch of multiple large language models, including ByteDance’s Doubao, Tencent’s Hunyuan, and Baidu’s Ernie.
Apple has also been in talks with Baidu, but technical challenges, including disagreements over using iPhone user data to train AI models, have reportedly stalled progress. Baidu has yet to comment on the matter.
Apple’s absence of AI features in its latest iPhones has been a setback in China, where competition from domestic brands like Huawei has intensified. Huawei re-entered the high-end smartphone market in August, launching its Mate 70 series with AI capabilities powered by its proprietary large language model.
In the second quarter, Apple briefly fell out of China’s top five smartphone vendors before recovering slightly in the third quarter. However, its sales in China declined by 0.3% year-on-year during the third quarter, while Huawei saw a 42% surge, according to research firm IDC.
Apple’s ability to secure a local AI partner could be critical as it seeks to regain footing in the world’s largest smartphone market.
