Apple connects Siri to Alibaba’s Qwen AI for Mac users in China

Apple ↘ 0.80% has published a guide detailing how eligible Mac users in mainland China can connect Alibaba's ↘ 4.74% Qwen artificial intelligence service to Siri and the Writing Tools feature, marking the first concrete rollout of a partnership that received regulatory approval in July.

What the Integration Offers

According to Apple's updated Chinese-language support document, users who opt in can access Qwen through Siri for more detailed responses to certain requests, including analysis of photos and documents. Writing Tools can also draw on the service to generate text or images from a description. The extension requires Macs running macOS 26.6 or later, and users must activate the Qwen extension and sign in to a Qwen account. Apple's guide specifies that Alibaba cannot use materials processed through the service to train or improve its AI models.indianexpress+2

The rollout follows regulatory clearance granted on July 15 by China's Cyberspace Administration, which registered Apple Intelligence as an approved generative AI service. An Alibaba spokesperson confirmed at the time that Qwen would power Apple Intelligence across iOS, iPadOS, macOS, and visionOS for Chinese users, though Apple's newly published guide covers Macs only.qz+2

Competitive Pressure in China's PC Market

The move comes as Apple faces mounting competition in China's personal computer market. Mac shipments in mainland China fell 9% year over year in the first quarter to approximately 800,000 units, leaving Apple with roughly 9% of the PC market, according to research firm Omdia. Lenovo ↘ 0.84% holds about 31%, while Huawei commands 16%.tekedia+2

Both Chinese rivals have been aggressively differentiating their products through locally developed AI capabilities. Lenovo has positioned its Tianxi personal AI agent as central to its PC strategy, while Huawei is building AI functions throughout its HarmonyOS ecosystem.bilyonaryo+1

Strategic Implications

For Apple, the arrangement provides a locally compliant route to offer generative AI capabilities while retaining control of the Mac interface. For Alibaba, embedding Qwen into Apple's operating system puts the AI service in front of Mac users through features they already use, rather than requiring them to access Alibaba's own applications separately. Alibaba this week also released Qwen3.8-Max, a 2.4-trillion-parameter model it describes as its most capable to date, though Apple has not disclosed which Qwen model powers the Mac extension.foreignpolicyjournal+2