Apple in Talks with Tencent and ByteDance to Launch AI Features in China

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) is in discussions with Tencent and ByteDance, the owner of TikTok, to integrate artificial intelligence models into iPhones sold in China. Sources who wished to remain anonymous due to the private nature of the talks indicated that Apple’s discussions regarding the use of AI models with Tencent and ByteDance are at a very early stage. According to the sources, Apple has begun rolling out OpenAI's ChatGPT, part of its Apple Intelligence product, which allows the Siri voice assistant to leverage chatbot expertise for user queries about documents like photos and presentations, to its devices this month. ChatGPT is not available in China, and the country’s regulatory requirements mandate that generative AI services obtain government approval before being made available to the public, pushing Apple to seek local partners for AI features during a period of dwindling market share in the country.