Apple Pulls Apple Intelligence From China After Accidentally Launching Without Regulatory Approval

Apple has pulled Apple Intelligence from China after accidentally activating the AI features in the country, where the company does not have regulatory approval to offer them, according to a report by Ryan Christoffel at 9to5Mac citing Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. The inadvertent launch exposed Apple to regulatory risk in a market where AI services require explicit government authorization before they can be offered to consumers. China's AI governance framework requires companies to register their AI products with the Cyberspace Administration of China and pass a security assessment before public deployment. Apple has not received that approval for Apple Intelligence. Apple Intelligence, the suite of AI features announced at WWDC 2024 and rolled out across iPhone, iPad, and Mac beginning in late 2024, includes writing tools, image generation, a redesigned Siri, and ChatGPT integration. The features have launched in the United States and in several other markets, but regulatory barriers have kept them out of China and the European Union, where separate compliance processes apply. The accidental launch in China was described as unintentional. Apple has no imminent timeline for a compliant Chinese launch, according to Gurman's reporting. Apple's China business represents a significant portion of its revenue, with the country contributing roughly $17 billion in quarterly sales at its recent peak. The company has navigated a complex relationship with Chinese regulators, removing apps from the App Store at government request while also depending on the country for the majority of its manufacturing capacity. A formal Apple Intelligence launch in China would require partnership with a local AI provider, as foreign model outputs must route through domestically approved systems under current Chinese AI regulations.