Apple fell out of the top five Chinese smartphone manufacturers in the second quarter, but recovered in the third quarter [File]
|Photo credit: AP
Apple is in talks with Tencent and TikTok owner ByteDance to integrate its artificial intelligence models into iPhones sold in China, according to three people familiar with the matter.
The US company this month began rolling out OpenAI’s ChatGPT to its devices as part of Apple’s Intelligence product, which allows its Siri voice assistant to tap into the chatbot’s expertise, including user queries for files such as photos and briefings.
ChatGPT is not yet available in China, and the country’s regulatory requirements require generative AI services to obtain government approval before being released publicly, forcing Apple to find local partners for its AI capabilities amid declining market share in China.
Sources said Apple’s discussions with Tencent and ByteDance about using its artificial intelligence models are in very early stages.
ByteDance declined to comment, and Apple and Tencent did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
A successful partner for Apple’s artificial intelligence services in China could become a major winner in the country’s increasingly crowded artificial intelligence field, where big tech companies and startups have launched dozens of large-scale language models.
They include byte-beating Doubao, Tencent’s Hunyuan and search engine giant Baidu’s Ernie.
Apple and Baidu have reportedly been in talks to use the latter’s artificial intelligence models in China, but The Information reported this month that discussions have suffered setbacks due to technical issues, including a dispute over the use of iPhone user profiles to train artificial intelligence models.
Baidu did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The lack of artificial intelligence features in the latest iPhones sold in China has become a major setback for Apple as it faces declining market share in the world’s largest smartphone market due to growing competition from domestic brands such as Huawei.
Huawei returned to the high-end market in August with phones powered by Chinese-made chips, and last month launched the Mate 70 series, which comes equipped with AI features powered by its proprietary large language model.
Apple fell out of the top five Chinese smartphone manufacturers in the second quarter, but recovered in the third quarter. According to data from research firm IDC, the U.S. company’s smartphone sales in China still fell 0.3% in the third quarter compared with the same period last year, while Huawei’s sales surged 42%.
Published – December 20, 2024 09:49 AM (IST)