Since then, however, expectations about Apple’s level of capitulation have only become more onerous. Algorithms that determine what the public sees online or through AI must register with Chinese authorities, and new AI legislation focuses largely on controlling the exact public interface models that Western tech companies want to engage with.
“It is necessary to submit an application to the regulators. You may have to submit a lot of details about things like coding… a lot of tech companies may not be willing to do that,” says Tan.
The problem is that China can afford to implement such measures because the balance of power is in its favor, more than ever.
“China is no longer just playing a following role in many technological fields,” adds Tan. “It is already moving forward and taking the leading role.”
Business as usual?
From a Western perspective, the rules set for generative AI in China range from admirable to worrying.
“The regulation includes a series of vague censorship requirements, such as that deep synthesis content ‘adheres to the correct political direction’, does not ‘disrupt the economic and social order’ and is not used to generate fake news,” it reads. Carnegie Foundation Document on the situation in 2023.
“Deep synthesis” is the term CAC uses instead of generative AI. China’s restrictions would result in a Siri that would not talk about the Dalai Llama, refer to Taiwan as a separate country, or recognize the Uyghurs. And who knows what else.
Given the current lax state of Western LLMs, it’s hard enough to imagine a chatbot that couldn’t be cajoled into saying that China is part of the sovereign state of Taiwan, let alone toe the line 100 percent of the time. . But it is clear that many Chinese technology companies have managed to comply with the restrictions, at least to the satisfaction of regulators. In August 2024, the South China Morning Post reported that 188 LLMs had been approved for use to date, up from just 14 in January 2024.
One could argue that Apple’s effective adoption of a customized version of one of these LLMs to complete the Chinese version of Apple Intelligence represents business as usual. Apple already censors the App Store to comply with China’s policies. It already cooperates with local entities.
However, with Apple Intelligence’s generative AI positioned at the heart of iPhones and other devices, the company appears more at risk of being accused of being too immersed in the wishes and whims of the Chinese state for comfort, for an American company .
In August, Zhuang Rongwen, director of the Cyberspace Administration of China, saying Generative AI, like chatbots, was “strongly driving economic and social growth.” The New York Times’ The 2021 report suggested that the government didn’t really need the data of Chinese iPhone users to surveil its citizens since it already had more powerful methods. But with GenAI, Apple may inadvertently become a more active participant in the CCP’s goals.
