Apple began a long-delayed trial rollout of its in-house artificial intelligence tools, dubbed "Apple Intelligence," for Chinese users on Wednesday, restricted to developers, with public access to the services in China to come in December, the company said in a statement at the weekend. The on-device features were first released in the US and other countries in autumn 2024, but strict Chinese regulatory requirements held back the launch there, as did the fact that models from Google and OpenAI, which Apple has used elsewhere, are not available in the country. Apple said it will work with Chinese partner Alibaba's Qwen to integrate more powerful AI features alongside its own basic offerings. The initial release includes 18 AI features, from live translation of phone calls to tools for summarising and proofreading messages, but not the latest upgrade of iPhone assistant Siri. Apple only secured regulatory approval in July. Counterpoint Research senior analyst Ivan Lam said the rollout "fills a long-standing gap in Apple's AI offering" but does not necessarily give the Californian company "a significant advantage" in a crowded market. iiMedia founder Zhang Yi told AFP that working with local partners "signifies a structural concession by Apple regarding its pricing and defining power over the AI experience in the Chinese market," and said the delay was due to "compliance costs" rather than lags in research and development.