China approves Apple Intelligence after two years

China has given the green light for Apple’s AI service to be used on iPhones, removing the final major obstacle that had prevented the company from introducing its artificial intelligence features to millions of users across the country.

On Wednesday, China’s internet regulator announced that Apple Intelligence has officially completed its registration and is authorized to operate in the country.

The approval concludes a process that lasted more than two years, as Apple worked to meet China’s strict requirements for AI technology and data management.

Clearing China’s regulatory hurdles

China has strict rules for AI services. Before companies can offer AI tools to the public, they must first get approval from the country’s regulators.

The process is difficult, and many companies have struggled to meet the requirements. OpenAI, for example, still cannot officially offer its services in China.

To meet these rules, Apple teamed up with Chinese companies that already had government approval. Its main partners are Alibaba and Baidu, both of which are licensed to provide AI services in the country.

Before regulators gave their approval, Apple had completed the majority of the technological work. The company only needs official approval to launch after resolving software and compatibility difficulties.

After Apple Intelligence was unintentionally made available to some Chinese customers for a brief period of time in March 2026, the delay attracted more attention.

Apple Intelligence on iPhones, iPads, Macs, and Vision Pro devices running Chinese versions of Apple’s operating systems will be powered by Alibaba’s Qwen AI model, the company stated.

Additionally, Baidu reaffirmed its collaboration with Apple, stating that it will support specific functionalities, such as Visual Intelligence.

Apple’s reliance on Chinese AI providers, however, may result in a different experience for users in China.

Partnerships with local companies typically require compliance with domestic content regulations, meaning some Apple Intelligence features could be more restricted than those available in other regions.

China’s internet regulator has not yet announced when the service will officially launch.

Nevertheless, the certification is a step in the right direction for Apple.

In the second quarter, the company’s shipments in China increased by 24.4% year over year, and the introduction of Apple Intelligence may help it compete with local smartphone manufacturers.

DeepSeek eyes $74 billion valuation with fresh fundraising push

At the same time, Chinese AI company DeepSeek is looking to raise even more money to support its growth.

The Hangzhou-based startup is aiming to secure up to 50 billion yuan in a new funding round, which would value the company at about 500 billion yuan, or roughly $74 billion. This comes only a few months after it raised $7.4 billion in June at a valuation of around 450 billion yuan.

DeepSeek is also thinking about going public. The company is in early talks about listing its shares on Shanghai’s STAR Market, a stock exchange that focuses on technology companies. Reports say it hopes to file for an initial public offering (IPO) before the end of the year.

The company’s latest fundraising shows how expensive it has become to compete in the AI industry.

Developing powerful AI models requires huge investments in computing power, data centers, and experienced engineers, making it difficult for even successful companies to rely only on their own funds.

DeepSeek has historically relied on internal funding, with founder Liang Wenfeng financing the company mainly through his quantitative trading firm, High-Flyer.

However, rising AI development costs and increasing competition from companies such as ByteDance, Alibaba, Z.ai, Moonshot, and MiniMax have made external funding more necessary.

In DeepSeek’s June funding round, Liang invested 20 billion yuan of his own money. Tencent Holdings contributed 10 billion yuan, and CATL invested 5 billion yuan, making them the company’s largest outside investors.

DeepSeek has declared ambitions to quadruple the size of its workforce across various teams since obtaining that cash.

As it investigates creating its own AI processors to power its services, the corporation has also begun hiring chip design engineers.

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