Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) received Chinese regulatory approval for Apple Intelligence on Wednesday, ending a wait that began with the feature’s launch in 2024.

Alibaba Group Holding (NYSE:BABA), whose Qwen model will power the service, rose more than 4% in premarket trading. Apple gained close to 1%.

The Cyberspace Administration of China added Apple’s generative AI services to its list of approved providers, according to a post on the regulator’s website.

The approval wave also covered offerings from Huawei, Xiaomi, Vivo and Oppo.

“Qwen will be integrated into Apple Intelligence experiences within iOS, iPadOS, macOS, and visionOS for users in China,” an Alibaba spokesperson told CNBC.

Why The Approval Took Two Years

China requires generative AI services to be registered and tested before public release, a process that reportedly includes strict content compliance checks.

Apple partnered with Alibaba to build a localized system rather than launch independently.

Apple Intelligence briefly appeared on Chinese iPhones in March in what analyst Mark Gurman called an error, a slip that reportedly drew closer scrutiny from the regulator.

Apple has not given a launch date, though reports suggest the rollout may land alongside new iPhones in September.

The clearance also comes amid a tense backdrop, with Alibaba reportedly banning employees from using Anthropic’s AI this month while U.S. lawmakers weigh curbs on Chinese models.

What Prediction Markets Say

Apple has a market cap of $4.6 trillion, roughly half a trillion behind Nvidia Corp. (NASDAQ:NVDA). Polymarket traders give Apple a 13% chance of overtaking NVDA this year, up from 8% in June.

Alibaba currently has the best-rated Chinese AI model, and Polymarket thinks there’s over a 90% chance that holds until the end of the month.

China accounts for roughly 15% of Apple’s sales, and CEO Tim Cook has previously linked the country’s iPhone declines to the missing AI features.

But Apple was already clawing back ground.

Second-quarter China shipments surged 24.4% year-over-year, suggesting the hardware momentum was recovering even before Beijing gave the green light.

For Apple, the approval removes the last excuse in its biggest overseas market.

Whether that is enough to close the gap with Nvidia is now a live trade.

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