Technological Alliance: Alibaba and Apple to Collaborate on AI Development.

Apple and Alibaba Sign Cooperation Agreement in the Field of Artificial Intelligence in China

Alibaba is starting a collaboration with Apple to develop artificial intelligence for the iPhone in the Chinese market. This will help Apple address the decline in smartphone sales in China, which is its key market, reports Reuters.

According to Reuters and The Information, Alibaba has been negotiating with leading Chinese tech companies such as Baidu, ByteDance, and Tencent. Furthermore, Alibaba sees this partnership as a significant achievement in the competitive Chinese artificial intelligence market.

Alibaba's shares on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange rose by 9.2% to HK$124.3, a level not seen since January 2022. However, later the stock growth slowed down, and the closing occurred with an increase of 2.6%.

'Instead of seeing the Alibaba-Apple partnership as an opportunity for China in the field of artificial intelligence, this partnership recognizes Alibaba's capabilities in this area,' emphasized Lian Jie Su, chief analyst at the technology research firm Omdia.

Integrating artificial intelligence is an important step for Apple, as the company faces declining iPhone sales in China due to increasing competition from Chinese manufacturers, especially Huawei.

According to a study by Canalys, Apple’s annual shipments in China have decreased by 17%, leading to a rise in local manufacturers. Vivo holds the largest market share at 17%, Huawei is in second place with 16%, and Apple ranks third with 15% of the smartphone market in China.

In 2025, Alibaba’s shares became very popular among Chinese investors in the field of artificial intelligence, and their growth exceeded 40% since the beginning of the year.