Baidu to Provide AI Capabilities for Apple’s New Releases in China

Chinese media Cailian learned from informed sources that Baidu will provide AI capabilities for Apple’s iPhone 16, Mac systems, and iOS 18, which are to be released this year. Apple had discussions with Alibaba and another domestic large model company, but finally decided to have this service provided by Baidu.

It is understood that Apple expects to charge via API interfaces. The adoption of domestic large model AI features in Apple devices such as iPhones sold in China is mainly due to compliance requirements. The company cannot solve the compliance issue in the short term, but the AI capabilities of iPhones and other devices sold abroad all come from Apple’s own large model.

Affected by this news, Baidu‘s Hong Kong stock price rose sharply, with a maximum increase of 6.42%, and the turnover exceeded 800 million Hong Kong dollars.

Previously, Baidu founder Robin Li stated that in the fourth quarter of 2023, the large model Ernie Bot brought about 660 million yuan in revenue for the cloud business. Next month, Ernie Bot will undergo a version upgrade, and it will also open up long-text capabilities, with a text range of 2 million to 5 million.

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