Apple Posts Then Pulls China Guide Linking Siri to Alibaba's Qwen

Apple published a Chinese-language Mac support guide on Aug. 8 explaining how users in mainland China could connect Alibaba’s Qwen to Siri and Writing Tools. The document described an opt-in extension that handed some requests from Apple’s software to the Chinese model, then the page disappeared the next day. Apple documented a product that its own customer-service staff said had not launched.

What the guide allowed

The guide required macOS 26.6 or later and a user’s own Qwen account. It said the extension was available to people located in mainland China or using devices purchased there. Alibaba was barred from using submitted material to train or improve its models.

Once enabled, Siri could send Qwen requests that needed deeper analysis of photos or documents. Writing Tools could generate text and images from a prompt. One example had a user ask Siri to have Qwen compose a poem.

The instructions covered Macs only. Apple published no equivalent guide for the iPhone or iPad, even though Alibaba has said its model will support Apple Intelligence across the company’s operating systems in China.

Apple’s conflicting message

The page was gone by Aug. 9. An Apple customer-service representative confirmed the removal but offered no reason.

Apple Support was reported to have said, in translation: “We are notified in advance whenever a feature or new project is launched. We have not received any such notification, and the feature integrating Apple Intelligence with Qianwen [aka Qwen] has not yet been released in mainland China.”

The reason the page appeared and vanished is not publicly known. Reported possibilities include a timing adjustment to the rollout, an accidental early publication, or conditions for release that were not met. Apple has not said when or whether the Mac extension will ship.

Approval without a launch date

China’s Cyberspace Administration published a registration list on July 15 covering seven on-device generative AI services for mobile phones. Apple Intelligence appeared under Apple Technology Development (Shanghai) Co., Ltd.

The registration did not specify when Apple Intelligence would become available. China requires public generative AI services to register and, in practice, requires foreign companies to work with local providers.

An Alibaba spokesperson told CNBC that “Qwen will be integrated into Apple Intelligence experiences within iOS, iPadOS, macOS, and visionOS for users in China.” Baidu has also confirmed work on Apple Intelligence for Chinese users, with Baidu handling visual and AI search while Qwen handles language functions.

Alibaba’s U.S.-listed shares rose 4% in premarket trading on July 15 after the integration was confirmed. For Apple, Greater China produced $20.5 billion in sales in the second quarter, up 28% from a year earlier. By mid-July, Apple had also regained the No. 2 position in China’s smartphone market after shopping-festival discounts on iPhones.

A second early appearance

The guide was not Apple’s first China release that vanished. Apple Intelligence briefly became available to some Chinese users in March 2026, apparently by mistake and without regulatory approval, before Apple pulled it.

Apple had initially chosen Baidu as its primary China AI partner. By February 2025, Alibaba appeared to have become the lead partner after Baidu’s models reportedly fell short of Apple’s requirements, with Baidu moving into a supporting role.

Liu Dingding, a veteran tech analyst, offered another reading of the latest removal. “The takedown of the support-guide page might signal pending tweaks to technical details amid ongoing regulatory progress,” Liu told the Global Times on Aug. 9.

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Marcus Schuler

San Francisco

Editor-in-Chief and founder of Implicator.ai. Former ARD correspondent and senior broadcast journalist with 10+ years covering tech. Writes daily briefings on policy and market developments. Based in San Francisco. E-mail: editor@implicator.ai