Apple Intelligence approved by Chinese regulators after two-year delay; server-side enable possible, separate from Siri AI

Apple Intelligence has been approved by the Chinese government after two years of regulatory delays, Bloomberg News reported Tuesday citing people familiar with the matter. Mark Gurman posted on X that Apple could enable the features server-side, separate from Siri AI. The approval covers Alibaba-powered iPhone AI tools in China, according to the Bloomberg report. No launch timing was announced. The development follows extended negotiations with Chinese regulators over data security and local partnership requirements. Apple shares rose modestly in premarket trading on the news. Analysts said the approval removes a key obstacle for Apple in its second-largest market. The company has been rolling out Apple Intelligence features in other regions since late last year. Chinese approval had been seen as critical given local regulations requiring government sign-off for generative AI services. Alibaba will provide the underlying cloud infrastructure and model hosting for the China deployment. Apple has not commented publicly on the approval or launch timeline.