Overview

• Apple and Alibaba have submitted several AI tools to China’s Cyberspace Administration, but approvals remain stalled this year.
• Regulatory reviews have paused in response to rising US-China political uncertainties driven by President Trump’s heightened tariffs.
• Chinese rules bar Apple from deploying its own AI models and mandate collaboration with local providers such as Alibaba.
• Domestic rivals Huawei and Xiaomi already offer AI-enhanced smartphones, widening Apple’s competitive gap in China.
• Reports that the Trump administration may place Alibaba, Tencent or Baidu on a restrictive entity list raise the prospect of fresh setbacks for Apple’s China AI strategy.