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Report: Apple in Talks with Tencent, ByteDance for Chinese iPhone AI

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Apple is reportedly negotiating with China's ByteDance and Tencent to bring their artificial intelligence models to iPhones sold in China, as the company adapts its AI strategy for the Chinese market.

iOS 18
Apple began integrating OpenAI's ChatGPT into its devices globally earlier this month with the release of iOS 18.2, iPadOS 18.2, and macOS Sequoia 15.2, but ChatGPT is not accessible in China due to regulatory restrictions. Chinese law requires government approval before companies can release generative AI services to the public.

Both ByteDance and Tencent have developed their own AI models - Doubao and Hunyuan respectively - which could potentially be integrated into Chinese iPhones if the talks prove successful. However, negotiations are said to be still in early stages, according to sources cited by Reuters. Apple is reported to have previously held talks with Baidu about similar AI integration.

Any partnership could be particularly significant as Apple faces increasing competition in China's smartphone market. The company briefly dropped out of China's top five smartphone vendors in the second quarter of 2023 before recovering in the third quarter, though its sales still declined 0.3% year-over-year.

Meanwhile, Huawei has gained momentum in the Chinese market, with sales surging 42% in the third quarter. The company's recent Mate 70 series features AI capabilities powered by its own home-grown large language model.

Tag: China

Top Rated Comments

D
delsoul
17 months ago
No, Apple, and others, need to quit bootlicking these people. Either China accepts the product and its features as is. Or, they need to get lost. The world is already moving on from China and pulling businesses, factories, etc out by the day. Tim Cook really needs to toughen up a bit and tell them like it is. I understand they have…’unique’ requirements, but nonetheless, Apple Intelligence, ChatGPT, etc would be better options instead of bending over backwards just to please an entity who wouldn’t return the favor.

A surge of 42% for Huawei really isn’t that impressive when it comes down to it. A Chinese company that builds a Chinese phone and is riding the waves of a pro-Chinese product consumer market push by the government…
Score: 11 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Mrkevinfinnerty Avatar
Mrkevinfinnerty
17 months ago
Yeaaah not so much..



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Score: 9 Votes (Like | Disagree)
coffeemilktea Avatar
coffeemilktea
17 months ago

Both ByteDance and Tencent have developed their own AI models - Doubao and Hunyuan respectively - which could potentially be integrated into Chinese iPhones if the talks prove successful.
Personally, I hope Apple would go with ChatXiPT ('https://www.usnews.com/news/technology/articles/2024-05-24/chinas-latest-ai-chatbot-is-trained-on-president-xi-jinpings-political-ideology'). 😆



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Score: 8 Votes (Like | Disagree)
T
timber
17 months ago
Apple always seems to say how high when asked to jump in China.
Score: 7 Votes (Like | Disagree)
F23 Avatar
F23
17 months ago
Chinese iPhone AI sounds wonderful...
Score: 7 Votes (Like | Disagree)
WarmWinterHat Avatar
WarmWinterHat
17 months ago

No, Apple, and others, need to quit bootlicking these people. Either China accepts the product and its features as is. Or, they need to get lost. The world is already moving on from China and pulling businesses, factories, etc out by the day. Tim Cook really needs to toughen up a bit and tell them like it is. I understand they have…’unique’ requirements, but nonetheless, Apple Intelligence, ChatGPT, etc would be better options instead of bending over backwards just to please an entity who wouldn’t return the favor.

A surge of 42% for Huawei really isn’t that impressive when it comes down to it. A Chinese company that builds a Chinese phone and is riding the waves of a pro-Chinese product consumer market push by the government…
Cook has a weird love for China, I'm assuming because of the supply-chain abilities that he is in awe of but don't really know; it's definitely a thing, though. As long as he is the CEO, Apple will bend over backwards for China, even to the detriment and dismay of other markets, including the US.
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)
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