Apple has opened a pathway for Mac users in mainland China to access Alibaba’s Qwen AI via Apple Intelligence, marking a significant move to secure a locally compliant AI offering amid mounting domestic competition and regulatory hurdles.
Apple has begun opening a route for Mac users in mainland China to access Alibaba’s Qwen artificial intelligence service through Apple Intelligence, a move that could help the company deliver more capable AI features in a market where domestic rivals are moving quickly. According to Reuters, Apple has published a Chinese-language guide for eligible users explaining how to connect Qwen to Siri and the Writing Tools feature on compatible Macs.
The setup lets users opt in to Qwen for more detailed answers to certain Siri requests, including the analysis of photos and documents. Writing Tools can also use the service to generate text or images from user prompts. Apple’s guide says the integration works on Macs running macOS 26.6 or later and requires both extension activation and a Qwen account sign-in.
The new arrangement appears to be part of Apple’s effort to secure a locally compliant AI offer in China, where regulations and product approvals have slowed the rollout of some Western AI services. TechCrunch reported in July that Apple Intelligence had received approval from China’s Cyberspace Administration for launch in the country, with Alibaba’s Qwen model set to power Apple’s AI features across iOS, iPadOS, macOS and visionOS. That broader approval would make the Mac integration the first publicly documented step of a wider deployment.
The move also reflects intensifying pressure in China’s PC market. Omdia data cited by Reuters shows Mac shipments in mainland China fell 9% year on year in the first quarter to about 800,000 units, leaving Apple with roughly 9% of the market. Lenovo held 31%, while Huawei accounted for 16%. Both companies have been leaning harder into AI PCs, with Lenovo centring its Tianxi personal AI agent and Huawei expanding AI across its HarmonyOS ecosystem.
For Alibaba, the deal extends Qwen beyond its own apps and cloud products and gives the company a high-profile route into Apple’s installed base in China. Alibaba has also said Qwen would be integrated into Apple Intelligence across the iPhone, iPad, Mac and Vision Pro in China, although Apple’s current guide only covers Macs. The timing is notable: Alibaba this week released Qwen3.8-Max, which it described as its most capable model yet, with 2.4 trillion parameters. Apple’s guide does not say which Qwen version is powering the new extension.
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