Apple Publishes Guide for Mac Users in Mainland China to Connect Alibaba's Qwen AI to Siri and Writing Tools
The Facts
- Apple published an updated Chinese-language guide describing how eligible Mac users in mainland China can connect Alibaba's Qwen AI service to Siri and the Writing Tools feature.
- The feature is opt-in and requires a Mac running macOS 26.6 or later, activation of the Qwen extension, and signing in to a Qwen account.
- Once enabled, Siri can route certain requests to Qwen for more detailed responses, including analysis of photos and documents, and Writing Tools can use Qwen to generate text or images from user descriptions.
- Apple's documentation states that Alibaba cannot use the requests sent through the integration to train or improve its own models.
- The integration follows regulatory clearance in China, where the Cyberspace Administration registered Apple Intelligence for use in the mainland in July 2026.
- Apple has been losing share in China's PC market to domestic manufacturers such as Lenovo and Huawei, which have promoted locally developed AI features.
- Rather than deploying its own models in mainland China, Apple is relying on Alibaba's domestically developed Qwen, reflecting Chinese requirements governing generative-AI services offered in the country.
- Qwen is Alibaba's family of generative-AI models, which can create text and images and analyse documents, photos and other material in response to user prompts.
Context
Is the guide still available?
Global Times reported on Sunday that Apple had removed the page describing how mainland Chinese Mac users could connect to Qwen. An Apple customer-service representative confirmed the removal to Global Times but gave no reason Global Time…. The same outlet had reported a day earlier that the integration was documented on Apple's Chinese website Global Time….
How much ground has Apple lost in China's PC market?
According to Omdia data cited by Foreign Policy Journal, Apple holds about 9% of the mainland China PC market, compared with 31% for Lenovo and 16% for Huawei, and Mac shipments in mainland China fell 9% year on year in the first quarter to roughly 800,000 units Foreign Policy Jour…. Reuters reporting similarly notes Apple has been losing market share as domestic manufacturers promote locally developed AI features Investing.com,Economic Times.
Is this a new partnership between Apple and Alibaba?
No. Reporting describes the Mac guide as an extension of an existing China-specific Apple Intelligence partnership that cleared regulatory approval in July News International,Startup Fortune. According to Chinese outlet ZheDongXi, cited by 36Kr, the manual chapter is the first time Apple has officially confirmed specific details of the cooperation, and Alibaba had previously said Qwen would be integrated into Apple Intelligence across iOS, iPadOS, macOS and visionOS for users in China eu.36kr.com.
Where Left and Right agree, and where they split
- Where Left and Right agree
- Apple's reliance on Qwen was set by Chinese requirements and competitive pressure, not chosen on the merits, and the no-training bar is a commitment worth taking seriously.
- Where Left and Right split
- Whether the story is about protections users can actually enforce rather than terms a company writes for itself, or about what American firms surrender for access to a market that gives nothing back.
How left and right read it
Routing Siri requests to a domestically developed model was not a choice made for users — it reflects Chinese requirements for generative-AI services and arrives as Apple loses ground to local manufacturers promoting their own AI features. The assurance that these requests won't train Alibaba's models sits in Apple's documentation. Protections people depend on should be binding and legible to them, not terms a company sets out while chasing a market it is losing.
Apple's entry followed the Cyberspace Administration's registration of Apple Intelligence, and rather than deploying its own models it relies on Alibaba's Qwen, reflecting Chinese requirements for generative-AI services there — all while losing PC share to domestic makers like Lenovo and Huawei. The opt-in design and the bar on Alibaba training its models on those requests are real protections. But reciprocity, not one-way accommodation, should govern what American firms trade for market access.
The receipts — all 15 sources
Wire services (2)
Independent coverage (13)
Facts first. Then every angle.
The day’s biggest stories in one short brief — the facts everyone agrees on, then the competing values behind the headlines. Free in your inbox.