Apple in China: AI Challenges in Focus

Apple is apparently facing significant challenges regarding the integration of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in China. According to the tech magazine The Information, the tech giant is struggling to implement the AI models of the Chinese company Baidu on its devices. The report indicates that there are issues with both the comprehension performance of the models and their accuracy with common queries. While Apple relies on technologies from OpenAI, the developer of ChatGPT, in other parts of the world, these American systems are not available in China. Therefore, Apple depends on local technology. Neither of the involved companies has yet commented on the allegations. However, a confirmation of the reports could weaken Apple's position in an extremely competitive market. In the third quarter, Apple already recorded a decrease of 0.3% in mobile phone sales in China, while the domestic competitor Huawei achieved a remarkable increase of 42%. Particularly in the highly dynamic AI development field, the U.S. company seems to be under pressure. Apple recently unveiled the new iPhone 16 to the public, but it was critically viewed in China due to a lack of innovations in the field of artificial intelligence. Another point of the report is Apple's strict data privacy policy, which prevents the collection of data from iPhone users during AI queries—a circumstance that disrupts the plans of the AI company Baidu, which is providing its new Ernie 4.0 models for iPhone services.