Throughout this year, multiple reports have pointed to Apple’s plans to expand Apple Intelligence to China. In February, Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman revealed that Apple had reached an agreement with Alibaba to support the company’s AI efforts within the country. At the time, reports indicated that Chinese regulations required Apple to use locally developed models to power Apple Intelligence, meaning devices sold in China would need to meet these legal standards.
A few months later, Apple introduced Chinese language support for Apple Intelligence, hinting that a launch could be near. By June, Reuters reported that Alibaba’s Qwen3 AI model would serve as the backbone of Apple’s MLX architecture. Still, no official release date was provided.
Since then, Apple has rolled out iOS 26 and iOS 26.1, with iOS 26.2 right around the corner. Yet, there’s still no word on when Apple Intelligence will officially debut in China. However, a recent discovery by MacRumors suggests the company is actively preparing for that launch.
Apple Seeks Feedback on Apple Intelligence from Chinese Users
According to MacRumors, Apple recently published a feedback form for Apple Intelligence on its website, though it has since been taken down. The form reportedly required a +86 phone number, suggesting it was intended for users based in China. It allowed participants to share their experiences with Apple Intelligence and provide input on features like Writing Tools, notification summaries, Smart Replies, Call Recordings, and more.
Since Apple Intelligence is not yet available in the region, the existence of this form offers another clear sign that Apple is moving closer to launching the service in China. To comply with local regulations, Apple is partnering with Alibaba to oversee content filtering and censorship for its AI outputs. The company is also expected to leverage Baidu’s technology for features like Visual Intelligence and search.
BGR will update readers as Apple moves forward with bringing Apple Intelligence to China. In the meantime, Chinese-speaking users outside the country can already explore Apple Intelligence and enjoy the newly introduced Live Translation feature.
