Alibaba's Qwen will not run all of Apple Intelligence in China. Apple's own announcement says its features are powered by models Apple built. Qwen is added to some experiences.
On October 31, Apple and Alibaba announced the partnership. Developers can test it from November 4. The public release comes with iOS 27.3 in December.
Where Qwen Appears
Qwen is Alibaba's family of large language models, the kind of AI behind chatbots. In China, it will work inside Siri, Writing Tools and Visual Intelligence.
Siri can pass some questions to Qwen for broader answers. Users can also ask about photos, PDFs and slide decks. In Writing Tools, Qwen can write new text from scratch. Users sign in with a Qwen account or with Sign in with Apple.
Apple does not list Live Translation, photo cleanup or Genmoji as Qwen features. The first release supports iPhone 15 Pro and newer models, with Siri and the phone set to English or Simplified Chinese.
What the Privacy Promise Covers
Alibaba says it will not use user requests or the replies it generates to train its models. Training means using data to teach a model, so it answers differently later. Alibaba also says users decide whether to turn Qwen on and what to share.
These points come from Alibaba's statement, as reported by Xinhua and China Daily. They do not appear in Apple's own announcement. A Chinese-language Apple guide for Macs reportedly carried a similar rule in August, but Apple removed it.
No independent audit of this promise has been announced. Training is also only one question. The announcement does not say where Qwen requests are processed, how long they are kept, or which Qwen model is used. Outside China, Apple relies on Private Cloud Compute, a cloud system built so outside researchers can inspect its server software. The announcement describes no such check for Qwen.
What Is Left Out
The new Siri AI shown at WWDC 2026 is not part of this release, and neither are other next-generation features. Apple gave no reason. Apple calls this the first batch of features for China.
An August report, citing three people familiar with the work, said Apple trained a China-only model with Alibaba's help. Apple and Alibaba did not comment. Apple has not said how that model, Qwen and technology from Baidu will share the work.
Apple's announcement is clear about what Qwen does. It is quiet about where the data goes. The November 4 beta may show more.
