The White House and congressional officials have been closely examining Apple's plan to integrate Alibaba's artificial intelligence technology into iPhones sold in China, according to reports from The New York Times on May 17, 2025.
The scrutiny comes three months after Alibaba Chairman Joe Tsai publicly confirmed the partnership in February, stating that Apple had chosen Alibaba's AI technology after evaluating several Chinese companies. The deal would utilize Alibaba's Qwen AI models, which the company claims surpass competitors like DeepSeek in functionality.
U.S. authorities have raised three primary concerns about the arrangement. First, they worry the partnership could help a Chinese company improve its artificial intelligence capabilities. Second, officials fear it could broaden the reach of Chinese chatbots that operate under censorship restrictions. Finally, the deal might deepen Apple's exposure to Beijing's laws regarding censorship and data sharing.
White House officials and members of the House Select Committee on China have directly questioned Apple executives about the terms of the deal, what data would be shared with Alibaba, and whether Apple would make commitments to Chinese regulators. According to sources familiar with these meetings, Apple executives were unable to answer most of these questions during a March meeting with the House committee.
Representative Raja Krishnamoorthi, the ranking Democrat on the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, described Alibaba as "a poster child for the Chinese Communist Party's military-civil fusion strategy" and called Apple's lack of transparency about the agreement "extremely disturbing."
For Apple, the partnership is crucial to maintaining its position in China, where its market share has declined from 19% in 2023 to 15% in 2024, falling behind domestic manufacturers like Vivo and Huawei. The company needs to offer AI features to compete effectively, as CEO Tim Cook has acknowledged that markets where Apple Intelligence has been rolled out have shown stronger iPhone performance.
The outcome of this scrutiny could have significant implications for how global tech companies navigate the increasingly complex geopolitical landscape surrounding AI technologies, especially as tensions between the U.S. and China continue to shape international technology policies.