Tim Cook meets China regulator in Beijing but no final word on Apple Intelligence
Chinese consumers have been vocal about their desire to see Apple bring its generative AI services to China as soon as possible
Apple chief executive Tim Cook spoke with China’s top industry regulator on Wednesday on a range of topics, according to an official Chinese statement, but the announcement fell short of providing any information on the roll-out of the firm’s artificial intelligence (AI) service in the country.
Cook met with Jin Zhuanglong, who heads the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT), to discuss topics ranging from Apple’s further development in China, one of its largest overseas markets, to cyber and data security and cloud services, according to a statement published by the regulator on Wednesday. The ministry is a key government agency overseeing AI applications in China.
The statement did not mention whether the two talked about Chinese market access for Apple Intelligence, the bundle of generative AI (GenAI) services that is slated to launch soon in certain countries but not China, where a permit is required from Beijing for any public release of GenAI software. As of August, China has approved a total of 188 GenAI services for Chinese users, all of which are developed by local firms.
Analysts have said that the exclusion of Apple Intelligence from the China market will weigh on iPhone sales in the country, where local competitors from Xiaomi to Oppo have been touting how the addition of AI has made their devices more capable in various tasks, from writing content to editing photos.
Chinese consumers have also been vocal about their desire to see Apple bring its GenAI services – which are expected to be released as part of the iOS 18.1 update on October 28 – to China as soon as possible.
Under a post about his visit to China, published by Cook on Chinese microblogging service Weibo on Monday, one user asked if his visit “was for negotiating [the roll-out of] AI with the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology”.
MIIT’s Jin said at the meeting with Cook that China is creating new opportunities for foreign companies, and that it expected Apple to deepen its ties with the country by continuing to invest in innovation for the market, according to the statement.
