Apple Intelligence Arrives in China, but Siri AI Is Absent

Bloomberg reports that Apple Intelligence will finally arrive in China with the iOS 27.3 update expected in December, but the launch will not include Siri AI. The company has cleared a major regulatory hurdle, yet several capabilities will be limited at rollout.

Apple first unveiled Apple Intelligence in 2024 alongside iOS 18, but making the feature set available in the European Union and China proved difficult. For the Chinese release, Apple has struck a deal with Alibaba to use its Qwen and Tongyi Wanxiang models instead of the Google Gemini models it deploys in Western markets.

Qwen is a general AI model and will likely power most features in the local release. Tongyi Wanxiang, which supports image and video generation, will be used for image editing tasks. Still, local laws will restrict certain functions: text generation will be limited inside some apps, and Apple will not be allowed to offer its Image Playground feature in China.

That mix of third-party models and regulatory constraints means Apple Intelligence in China will ship with fewer capabilities than the US release. The limitations are legal rather than technological.

EU restrictions remain in place

China is not unique in its constraints. Apple has already signalled tighter limits in the European Union: Siri AI is not available on phones, tablets or watches there.

As Apple noted in its September update, "Mac and Apple Vision Pro users in the EU will be able to access Siri AI when set to a supported language. Siri AI will not be available initially in the EU in iOS, iPadOS and watchOS."

Mark Gurman of Bloomberg says consumers should not expect Siri AI to appear in China or the EU anytime soon.