Washington is concerned that Apple’s partnership with Chinese tech giant Alibaba might benefit China’s military
Washington fears that Apple’s partnership with the Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba on the Apple Intelligence features might benefit China’s military.
The New York Times reports that some security officials in Washington have expressed their concern about the iPhone maker’s partnership with Alibaba on artificial intelligence (AI) models in China, its second-largest market by revenue.
Officials from the defense and intelligence community are concerned about Alibaba’s alleged connections to the Chinese Communist Party and the People’s Liberation Army, and how the Apple-Alibaba partnership might benefit China’s military.
NYT: Trump administration is scrutinizing Apple’s Alibaba partnership in China
Tripp Mickle, reporting for The New York Times, writes that the rising geopolitical tensions between Washington and Beijing may “cripple” Apple’s plans to deliver the Apple Intelligence features to its Chinese customers. The fear is that the deal will help Alibaba collect important data to refine its AI models, which then other local companies could use to help China’s military.
In recent months, the White House and congressional officials have been scrutinizing Apple’s plan to strike a deal with Alibaba to make the Chinese company’s AI available on iPhones in China, three people familiar with the deliberations said. They are concerned that the deal would help a Chinese company improve its artificial intelligence abilities, broaden the reach of Chinese chatbots with censorship limits and deepen Apple’s exposure to Beijing laws over censorship and data sharing.
The report notes that officials at the White House and the House Select Committee on China did actually complain about this deal directly to Apple executives.
During meetings in Washington with senior Apple executives and lobbyists, government officials asked about terms of the deal, what data Apple would be sharing with Alibaba and whether it would be signing any legal commitments with Chinese regulators. In the meeting with the House committee in March, Apple executives were unable to answer most of those questions, two of these people said.
And:
Washington’s concern about the deal has been heightened by a deepening conviction that A.I. will become a critical military tool. The technology, which can write emails and develop software code, has the potential to coordinate military attacks and control autonomous drones. Worried about a future U.S.-Chinese conflict, Washington officials have tried to limit Beijing’s access to A.I. technology, cutting off its ability to make and buy A.I. chips.
Apple’s sales in China, a 1.44 billion people market, have fallen. The hope is that a combination of the recent iPhone price cuts and the upcoming Apple Intelligence launch in the country could reverse the trend.
Walking away from an Alibaba deal would have far graver consequences for Apple’s business in China, which accounts for almost a fifth of the company’s sales. The partnership with the Chinese tech company is critical to bringing AI features to iPhones in one of the world’s most highly regulated and competitive markets. Without the Alibaba partnership, iPhones could fall behind smartphones from Chinese rivals like Huawei and Xiaomi.
The Trump administration has allegedly discussed whether to blacklist Chinese companies like Alibaba to prevent them from doing business with American companies. Apple partners with OpenAI on ChatGPT integration in Siri and Writing Tools in Apple Intelligence for English-language queries. OpenAI doesn’t have offices in China, so Apple must partner with a local company on delivering localized AI features to Chinese customers.
Apple Intelligence has yet to launch in China
Apple Intelligence is currently unavailable on devices purchased in China or while in China with a Chinese Apple ID. With Alibaba’s help, Apple is hoping to adapt Apple Intelligence to the local market and regulatory compliance.
“For supported devices purchased outside of China mainland, Apple Intelligence will not currently work if you are in China mainland and if your Apple account country/region is also in China mainland,” reads Apple’s support page.
“When Apple Intelligence is available in China mainland, previously purchased devices that support Apple Intelligence will be able to activate and use it in that region.”
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