Alibaba Stock Jumps 4% After Qwen Approved for Apple Intelligence in China
Alibaba’s stock rose by 4% following the approval of its Qwen AI model to power Apple Intelligence in China.
Cyberspace Administration Approves Apple AI Services Alongside Huawei
The Cyberspace Administration of China included Apple AI services on a list of approved providers, alongside products from Huawei and other domestic companies. A Khosla-backed startup, PrismML, compressed the Qwen model from 54GB to under 4GB, enabling it to run on-device on an iPhone 15 or newer.
Key Takeaways:
- Integration: Alibaba’s Qwen AI will be integrated into Apple Intelligence across iOS, iPadOS, macOS, and visionOS for Chinese users.
- Regulatory Milestone: The approval ends a lengthy regulatory process that began when Apple unveiled its AI suite in 2024.
- Geopolitical Significance: This partnership arrives amidst heightened US-China technology rivalry, with recent developments including Alibaba banning employee use of Anthropic’s Claude and discussions on curbing Chinese AI model adoption by American companies.
- Compression Technology: PrismML’s compression technology allows all 27 billion parameters of the Qwen model to run on a compatible iPhone. Apple is reportedly in talks with PrismML about incorporating this technology.
In Conclusion: The Qwen-Apple partnership signals both a significant commercial deal and a geopolitical statement regarding the AI models that will power leading consumer devices in China.