WSJ: Apple in talks with Baidu to integrate AI into Chinese iPhones – Tablets and phones – News

Apple is in talks with Chinese tech company Baidu to integrate its AI tool Ernie into Chinese iPhones. The Wall Street Journal writes this. The strict Chinese AI legislation would have forced Apple to have these conversations.

The New York Times was able to speak to some sources who confirmed the news. However, it is not clear whether Apple wants to integrate all of Ernie’s features or whether the American company wants to build some AI functions itself. Ernie is an AI bot from Baidu introduced in 2023. The AI ​​bot can help write texts, solve mathematical puzzles and the tool can also generate images.

The editors of The Register suspect that Apple will have to work with a local partner in China because the Asian country has had stricter AI legislation since last year. For example, Chinese AI tools such as Ernie must meet certain standards and must not undermine the authority of the state.

Apple was also previously in the news because the company was said to be in discussions with Google about the integration of Gemini AI in iOS 18. Bloomberg then wrote that Apple would like to use Gemini to, among other things, generate images and texts with text prompts.