Apple is partnering with Alibaba to roll out artificial intelligence features for iPhone users in China, The Information reported on Tuesday, citing one person with direct knowledge of the decision.

The development could clear months of uncertainty over Apple's AI strategy for China, where it has been losing market share to domestic rivals, including a resurgent Huawei whose smartphones have included AI tools since last year.

Apple had selected Baidu as its main partner last year, but the Chinese company's progress in developing models for Apple Intelligence fell short of its standards, the report said.

After that, Apple considered models developed by Tencent TikTok-parent ByteDance, Alibaba and DeepSeek, but it passed on DeepSeek as the startup's team lacked the manpower and experience needed to support a large customer, the report said.

The companies have submitted the Chinese AI features they co-developed for approval by China's cyberspace regulator, the report said.

Rolling out the tools is crucial as iPhone sales dipped in the holiday quarter - usually Apple's biggest period of sales - due to a lack of AI features that were meant to be the chief selling point of its latest devices. for more on this, read the full Reuters report.

On February ninth, IT Home posted a report titled " Apple will hold a developer event "Harnessing the Power of Apple Intelligence" in Shanghai on March 25, hinting that the Chinese version of AI will be launched soon." It's unknown at this time whether Apple's AI with Alibaba will be ready for the March 25^th event – but it looks promising.

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Apple opened their Developer Accelerator in Shanghai in July 2019.