Apple has reportedly approached Baidu, a Chinese company with AI expertise, to provide a backend for generative AI features expected to arrive with iOS 18. The Wall Street Journal reports that China has placed regulatory hurdles for AI providers outside the country, and Apple likely needs a local partner to launch its planned AI features.
Baidu is the latest potential partner that Apple is considering for some of its generative AI features heading to iOS 18 and other platforms. Apple also held talks with other heavyweight AI providers like OpenAI and Google as reported earlier. As the discussions are seemingly in an early stage, Apple is still weighing all of its options, which are reportedly needed to power some AI features that will processed in the cloud rather than on-device.
In the case of China, Apple will need one of the 40 AI companies that the Chinese government has approved to operate in the country. China has long approved Baidu’s Ernie Bot, and Apple is reportedly looking to use its technology to power generative AI features for Chinese iPhone users. Notably, the Chinese government has yet to approve any AI model created by foreign developers, limiting Apple’s options. Google Gemini and OpenAI ChatGPT remain absent from the country.
The talks that Apple has held with Baidu so far are “exploratory,” the report adds. It’s unclear whether Apple has approached other Chinese AI companies to power its backend. Still, Baidu seems to be the company’s best option as the Ernie Bot also powers generative AI for Samsung Galaxy phones in China.
This wouldn’t be the first time Apple has been forced to use a local Chinese partner for its service operations. The company still relies on a local cloud service provider to store iCloud data on servers within China.
Apple has big AI plans with the upcoming iOS 18 and macOS 15 updates, which should be a few months away as WWDC 2024 edges closer. Tim Cook has continuously teased Apple’s AI plans whenever possible, stating that it will “break new ground” in generative AI sometime this year. Cook also acknowledged that Apple is investing a substantial amount of money in AI research.
The company plans to incorporate generative AI features across the board that could span Siri, Messages, Spotlight Search, Apple Music, Xcode, and more. iOS 18 is also said to introduce considerable UI design changes across the board, with these changes said to make the update one of the biggest in iPhone’s history. The company could also be looking to develop hardware-exclusive AI features for the iPhone 16 and future devices that could further incentivize users to upgrade.
