Cook says Apple Intelligence China beta due in late October, without Siri AI

Tim Cook said Apple Intelligence and a related Alibaba Qianwen (千问) large language model had received approval in China, with a test version planned for later in October. Speaking to Jiemian and other media during a Shanghai visit on October 15, Cook said the first release would include live translation, writing tools and a photo cleanup tool. Siri AI would not be included in this rollout, according to the reports. [ 9 , 10 , 12 , 13 ]

Cook said Apple was pleased that its first core Apple Intelligence features could begin coming online gradually. The reports identify him as executive chairman of Apple's board. CLS and Jiemian reported his approval statement and the initial feature list, while 36Kr carried the same information, citing Jiemian. Yicai's headline also reported approval in China and a test version due at the end of October. [ 9 , 10 , 11 , 13 ]

IT Home said it had previously reported that the approved Alibaba models included Tongyi Qianwen (通义千问), a large language model, and Tongyi Wanxiang (通义万相), an image and video generation tool. The outlet separately recalled Bloomberg reporter Mark Gurman's reporting that Apple planned a formal release for Chinese users in December alongside iOS 27.3. In that account, the first features would largely match those introduced overseas in 2024. That December timetable was presented as earlier reporting by Gurman, while Cook's comments concerned the test version scheduled for later in October and expressly excluded Siri AI from that release. [ 12 , 13 ]